LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WAI  SWORTH. 

Received  October,  1894. 
.Accessions  No,S^^S^  -      Class  No. 

Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/christssecondcomOOdavirich 


CHEIST'S  SECOID  COMING 


WILL  IT  BE  PRE-MILLENNIAL  ? 


REV.  DAVID    BROWN,  A.M., 

i> 

ST.   JAMES'   FREE   CHURCH,   GLASGOW. 


QT'A  PROPTER,  QUI  DIGIT  DOMINUM  f /TIDS  USSE  VENTUKUM  OPTABILIUS  LOQUITUR,  SEXl 
PEEICl/LOSIUS  PALLITUR.  UTINAM  ERGO  SIT  VERUMj  QUIA  ERIT  MOLESTUM  81  NON  VERUM 
QXn  AUTEM  DIGIT  DOMINUM  TARDIUS  ESSE  VENTURUM,  ET  TAMEN  CREDIT,  SPERAT.  AMAT 
EJUS  ADVENTUM,  PROPECTO  DE  TARDITATE  EJUS  ETIAMSI  PALLITUR,  FELICITER  PALLITUR 
HABEBIT  ENIM  MAJOREM  PATIENTIAM.  SI  HOC  ITA  ERIT ;  MAJOREM  L^TITUM  SI  NON  ERIT. 
AC  PER  HOC.  AB  EIS  QUI  DILIOUNT  MANIFEST ATIONEM  DOMINI  ILLE  AUDITUB  8UAVIU8.  ISTI 
OlrOITUR  TDTIUS Au«C8tiv.  Epist.  CXCIX. 


NEW  YORK: 
ROBEKT  CARTER  AND  BROTHERS, 

530    BROADWAY. 
1879. 


3Y, 


61  ^yj 


CONTENTS. 


PssrAcB,        ..---•'  -Xf 


PART  L 
THE  SECOND  ADVENT. 

% 

CHAPTER   I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Opening  Remarks,    ------•. 

Pre-millennial  Theory  stated,  -  -  -  .  -         4 

Diversities  not  taken  into  account,  -  -  -  -  «         5 

Prejudices  in  favour  of  the  Pre-millennial  Advent,  -  .         7 

against  it,  ---...  9 

Irrelevant  Matter,      -------9 

CHAPTER    II. 

Christ's  second  afpearino  the  church's  blessed  hope. 
Scriptural  Proofs  of  this,      ------        14 

Not  his  Coming  to  Individuals  at  Death,    -  -  -  •        20 

CHAPTER    III. 

THE  HOPE  OF  THE  ADVENT  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  QUESTION  OP  TIMK. 

Objection:  Looking  for  Christ's  Coming  is  impossible,  on  suppo- 
sition of  any  certain  intervening  Period  of  a  Thou- 
sand Years,      ......       26 


iv  CONTENTS. 

Plausibility  of  this  Objection,  and  necessity  of  examining  it,        -       26 
EarpJanation  :   There  is  every  reason   to  believe   that   the  com- 
mencement and  the  close  of  the  Latter  Day  will 
be  shrouded  in  such  obscurity  as  to  leave  the 
same  uncertainty  overhanging   this  as   all  the 
great  periods  of  the  Divine  Economy,     -  -        28 

The  Objection  tested  by  Facts — Rollock  -Rutherford,  -        29 

Robert  Wodrow,      ------        32 

Bearing  of  these  Facts,         ------        33 

The  Objection  founded  on  a  narrow  induction  of  Scripture  Pas- 
sages, and  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  a  large  and  important  class 
of  Divine  Testimonies,  ------        33 

Examples  of  passages  announcing  the  work  to  be  done,  and  the  ex- 
tensive changes  to  come  over  the  face  of  the  Church  and  of 
Society,  between  the  two  advents,  all  implying  length  of  time,        34 
Christ's  Commission  to  his  Disciples,  -  -  -        34 

Parables  of  the  Tares  and    Wheat,  the  Net,  the  Mustard 

seed,  the  Leaven,  -----        34 

Transfer  of  Kingdom  of  God  from  Jews  to  Gentiles,  -        35 

Degeneracy  to  characterize   the   Maturer  Periods  of  the 

Church,  or  Christianized  society,  -  *-  -        36 

Christ  in  Heaven  till  Restitution  of  all  Things,       -  -        37 

Parables  which  intimate  that  He  will  be  away  a  long  time 

—that  He  will  tarry,        -----        39 

That  He  will  wear  out  the  patience  of  all  but  "God's 

Elect,"  and  try  even  them  to  the  uttermost,     -        41 

The  Thessalonian  excitement  on  the  subject  of  Christ's  Coming,        42 

How  treated  by  the  Apostle,  -----        43 

Import  of  the  Apostolic  warning,      -  -  -  -        44 

Distinction  between  events  and  periods,         -  -  -        45 

Unavailing,        -  -  -  -  -AG 

Early  Chiliasts— Lactantius,    -  -  -        47 

Excitement  in  regard  to  Christ's  Coming— its  Evils,        -  -        48 

Difference  between  Feverish  Expectation  and  the  Patience  of  Hope,       50 

CHAPTER    IV. 

TH«  CHURCH,   OR   MYSTICAL   BODY  OF  CHRIST,   COMPLETE   AT   HIS 
COMING. 

The  three  preceding  chapters  preliminary  to  the  proper  question 
ot  this  volume  namely,  Whether  the  Second  Advent  will  be 
Pre-millennial  or  >vill  introduce  a  Kingdom  of  Men  in  the 


CONTENTS.  ^ 

flesh  ruled  over  by  Christ  and  glorified  Saints  for  a  thousand 
years,       -.------53 

The  Scripture  evidence  against  this  Theory  to  be  arranged  under 
a  series  of  Propositions,  .  .  .  .  - 

PROPOSITION  FJRST:    The  Church  will  be  absolutely 

COMPLETE  AT  ChRISt's  CoMING,             -                 -                 -  53 

They  that  are  Christ's  at  his  Coming,           -           -           -  54 

Presentation  of  the  Church  at  his  Coming,              -            -  57 

The  opposite  view  destitute  of  support,        -            -            -  62 

The  bearing  of  this,       -        -            -           -            -            -  63 

What  do  the  Pre-millennialists  say  to  this?             -            -  64 

It  divides  them  into  two  classes,         -           -            -           -  64 

F'irst  Class — admit  that  the  Church  is  complete  when 

Christ  comes — Examples — Homes,             -           -  65 

Burnet,              -            ....  66 

Perry,   ------  67 

buhchell,         -----  70 

Remarks  on  this  Class,   -----  71 

Second  class,  embracing  nearly  all  modern  Pre-millen-  ' 
nialists — dejir/  that  the  Church  is  complete  when 

Christ  comes— Remarks  on  this  Class,       -            -  73 

Their  inconsistency,      -            -            -           -  74 

Summary,     --------81 

Supplementary  Remarks— In  reply  to  Mr.  Bickersteth,  the  DvJce 

qf  Manchester,  and  Mr.  A.  Bonar,        -            -           .            -  82 

CHAPTER    V. 

ALL  THE   MEANS   OF   GRACE,    AND    AGENCIES    OF   SALVATION,    TERMINATE 
AT    THE    SECOND    ADVENT. 

PROPOSITION  SECOND  :  Christ's  Second  Coming  will  ex- 
haust THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  ScRIPTURES,             -                -  101 

Object  of  the  Scriptures  as  regards  Saints,  -            -           -  101 

as  regards  Sinners,             -            -  103 

Objection  answered,   ------  104 

PROPOSITION  THIRD  :  The  Sealing  Ordinances  will  dis- 
appear AT  Christ's  Second  Coming,  -            -            -  105 
Baptism,         -            -            -            -            r            -            -  106 

The  Lord's  Supper,              _            .            -           -           -  108 

The  forego  ng  Conclusions  admitted  by  Mr.  Brooks,         -           -  109 

Bv  Mr  Bickerstcth, -  112 

a2 


Ti  CONTENTS. 

pAaa 

ByDr.M'Neae,         -  -  -  -  .  -      113 

Summary,       --------114 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   SAME   SUBJECT   CONTINUED. 

PROPOSITION  FOURTH  :  The  Intercession  op  Chiist,  and 
THE  Work  of  the   Spirit,  for  Saving  Purposes, 

WILL  cease  at  the  Second  Advent,             -           -  116 

Chhist's  Intercession,         -           -           -            -           -  H3 

Work  OF  the  Spirit,             -           .           -  II9 

Both  terminate  at  Second  Advent,     -           -           -  121 
Extracts  from  Pre-millennialists  in  confirmation  of 

this, 122 

Summary,      --------123 

CHAPTER    Vll. 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  CHRIST — ALREADY  IN  BEING — ITS  MILLENNIAL 
ESSENTIALLY  THE  SAME  WITH  ITS  PRESENT  CHARACTER — ITS 
ORGANIC  FORM  UNCHANGED. 

Pre-millennial  Theory  of  Christ's  Kingdom,  -  -  -      126 

PROPOSITION  FIFTH:   Christ's   Proper  Kingdom  is  al- 
ready   IN   being;     COMMENCING    FORMALLY    ON   HIS 

Ascension  to  the  Right  Hand  of  God,  and  con- 
tinuing    UNCHANGED,    BOTH     IN     CHARACTER     AND 

Form,  till  the  Final  Judgment,     -  -  -  130 

Explanations,  -  ,  _  -  .  _  130 

Apostolic  Views  of  Christ's  Kingdom,         -  -  .  134 

Same  Ground  taken  by  Pre-millennialists  and  Unbelieving 

Jews,         -...--.  136 

Lord  and  Christ, 138 

Throne  of  David,        -  -  -  -  -  -  139 

The  Priest  upon  his  Throne,  -  -  -  -  141 

The  Lamb  in  the  Midst  of  the  Throne,        -  -  -  142 

The  Key,  and  Throne,  and  House  of  David,  -  -  143 

The  Prince  of  Life,    ------  146 

The  Times  of  Restitup'on,     -  -  -  -  -  147 

The  Disciples'  View  of  the  Second  Psalm,  -  -  -  149 

The  Prince  and  Saviour,        -----  151 

Apostolic  Commentaries  on  the  Hundred  and  Tenth  Psalm,  152 

The  Kingdom  to  be  delivered  up— What  it  is,  •  -  154 


CONTENTS.  TU 

The  Last  Enemy  Destroyed,  -  -  -  -  158 

Delivering  up  of  the  Kingdom — What  it  is,  -  •  -  160 

What  it  is  not,       -  -  162 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  ENTIRE  CHURCH  '*  MADE  ALIVe" — EITHER   BY   RESURRECTION   OR 
TRANSFORMATION — AT  CHBISt's  COMING. 

Cveriasting  Continuance  of  the  Fleshly  State,        -  -  -  167 

Mr.  Bickersteth,  ...  -  -  .  168 

Mr.  Dirks, 170 

Mr.  Brock— Mr.  Lord, 171 

tlemarks  on  this  View,  ------  172 

PROPOSITION  SIXTH:  When  Christ  comes,  the  whole 
Church  of  God  will  be  madk  alive  at  once — 
the  Dead  by  Resubbection,  and  the  living,  imme- 
diately thereafter,  by  Transformation  ;  their 

"Mortality  being  swallowed  up  of  Life,"  -  176 

Proof  of  this,  --..---  177 

Objection,        - 179 

Reply, 180 

Supplementary  Remarks — in  reply  to  Mr.  H.  Bonar,        -  -  183 

CHAPTER    IX. 

RifcaURRECTION  OP  ALL  THE  WICKED  AT  THE  COMING  OF  ChRIST 

PROPOSITION    SEVENTH:    All  the    Wicked   will    rise 
FROM   THE   Dead,    or   be   "made  alive,"    at  the 

Coming  of  Christ,      -----  193 

A  prior  Resurrection  of  the  Righteous — but  one  direct  passage 

alleged  for  it,      -  -  -  -  -  -  190 

Presumptive  arguments  in  favour  of  it  examined,   -  -  192 

Resurrection  of  Believers  peculiar  to  themselves,     -  -  192 

Dutch  Remonstrants,  -----  193 

Attaining  to  the  Resurrection  from  the  Dead,  -  -  195 

Mr.  Birks'  view  of  this,  -  -  -  «  -  196 

Resurrection  of,  and  from,  the  dead,  -  .  -  198 

Righteous  and  Wicked  "  awake"  together,  -  -  -  -  199 

All  in  the  Graves  come  forth  together,         -  -  -  -  201 

The  view  which  Pre-millennialists  take  of  this  not  tenable,  -  202 

The  great  White  Throne, 206 

The  Book  of  Life— A// .  Dalla, 20'' 


viii 


CONTENTS. 


Mr.  Lord— Mr.  Birks—Dr.  Hill, 
The  Dead,  small  and  great,    - 
The  "  other  Book,"     - 
Summary,      -  .  -  - 


203 
210 
213 
216 


CHAPTER    X. 


BAME     SUBJECT    CONTINUED:     THE     MILLENNIAL     RESURRECTION"- 
LITERAL   OR    FIGURATIVE  ? 

Presumptions  against  the  Literal  Sense,     -  -  -  . 

Nine  Internal  Evidences  that  the  Millennial  Resurrection  is  not 
Literal  but  Figurative  : — 

First  and  Second  Arguments, 

Third  Argument, 

Fourth  Argument, 

Fifth  Argument, 

Sixth  Argument, 

Seventh  Argument,    - 

Eighth  Argument, 

Ninth  Argument, 
Summary,     -  -  -  - 


219 


231 
232 

233 
239 
240 
241 
244 
254 
258 


CHAPTER    XI. 

JUDGMENT   OP    RIGHTEOUS    AND    WICKED    TOGETHER — AT    CHRIST's 
COMING. 

Pre-millennialists  spread  the  Judgment  over  the  whole  Thousand 

years,           -           - 260 

Mr.  Brooks'  view  of  it,          -           -           -           -           -  261 

Mr.  Dallas'  view  of  it,           -            -           -           -           -  263 

Medc,  Bickersteth,  Birks,        -----  265 

Remarks  on  these  views  of  the  Judgment,             _            -            -  266 

PROPOSITION  EIGHTH:  The  Righteous  and  the  Wicked 

WILL   BE  Judged  together,   and   both    at   the  Coming  of 

Christ, 268 

Simultaneous  Judgment — Scriptural  proof  of  it,    -           -           -  269 

Summary,      --------  288 


CHAPTER    XXL 

THE  CONFLAGRATION,  AND  THE  NEW  HEAVENS  AND  NBW  EARTH  AT 
THE  COMING  OF  ClIRIST. 

Fina,J  Conflagration,  ------ 


292 


CONTENTS. 


Mr.  Burgh's  view  ot  it,  -  -  - 

Mr.  EllioWs  and  Mr.  A.  Bonar's  view  of  it, 
Universality  of  it,      -  -  -  -  - 

All-involving,  all-reducing,    ----.- 
New  Heavens  and  New  Earth — Peopled  by  whom  7          -  - 

No  Sinners  in  the  New  Heavens  and  New  Earth, 
PROPOSITION    NINTH:    At  Christ's    Second  Appearing 
"the  Heavens  and  the  earth  that  are  now,"  being 
dissolved  by  fire,  shall  give  place  to  "  New  Hea- 
vens AND  A  New  Earth,  wherein  dwelleth  Righte 

OCSNESS,"  without    ANY   MIXTURE   OP  SiN — GOOD    UNAL- 
LOYED BY  THE  LEAST  EVIL,    -  -  -  -  - 

Summary  of  whole  preceding  Argument,    -  -  -  - 


294 
296 
298 
302 
305 
306 


308 
309 


PART  II. 


THE    MILLENNIUM. 


CHAPTER    I 


the  MILLENNIUM — HOW  BROrOHT  ABOUT. 

Dr.  MNeile,  Mr.  Brooks,  Mr.  Ti/so, 

Mr.  Ogilvy— Remarks  on  their  views, 
Messrs.  Bonar,  -  -  .  > 

Their  views  tried  by  the  Redeemer's  words, 
All  Nations  brought  in  before  Christ  comes, 
Mr.  H.  Bonar  and  Dr.  Bogue, 
Missionary  effort  paralysed,  -  -  - 

Judgments— Effusion  of  the  Spirit, 
Christ's  personal  appearing  -Miracles, 
Church's  present  resources  all-sufBcient,    - 


314 

315 
316 
317 
318 
319 
320 
321 
322 
323 


CHAPTER  11. 


NATURE    OP   THE    MILLENNIUM — NOT  A  STATE    OP  UNMIXED 
RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

A  Millennium  without  Sin  pirtured  by  Pre-mill*nnialist8, 
But  not  believed  in,  - 


325 
329 


CONTENTS. 


Tares  in  the  Field  during  the  Millennium,  - 

Not  gathered  out  till  end  of  Millennium,     - 

Parables  illustrating  Christ's  kingdom, 

Why  the  Millennium  is  not  in  them. 

Millennium  belongs  to  the  mixed  state  of  the  Church, 


330 
331 
332 
333 
334 


CHAPTER    III. 


NATURE  or  THE  MILLENNIUM — JUST    THE   PULL  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE 
KINGDOM  OP  GRACE  IN  ITS  EARTHLY  STATE. 


Nebuchadnezzar's  Vision,     -  -  - 

Mede  on  this  Vision,  -  -  - 

The  Stone  becoming  a  Mountain,    - 
Our  Lord's  Parables  regarding  the  kingdom 
The  Kingdom  wins  the  victory. 
The  Victory — its  nature, 

Daniel's  Vision,         -  -  -  . 

The  two  Visions  compared,    - 
Judgment  of  Antichrist — What, 
Wherein  d'fferent  from  last  Judgment, 
Universal  dominion  given  to  Christ, 
Kingdom  given  to  the  Saints, 

Substance  of  the  Visions,    -  -  - 

Destruction  of  Antichrist  gradual,  - 

The  Warfare  not  carnal,        -  -  - 

The  Victory— slow  but  sure. 

The  eventual  Triumph, 

Note — in  reply  to  Mr.  H.  Bonar, 


335 
336 
337 

338 
339 
340 
342 
343 
344 
347 
348 
350 
351 
352 
353 
354 
356 
356 


CHAPTER  IT. 


KG  MILLENNIAL  REVIVAL  OP  JEWISH  PECULIARITIES. 


lewish  Literalism— its  Christian  advocates, 

-      359 

Mr.  Fry, 

-      360 

Mr.  Freemantle,          -            .            -            - 

-      361 

Mr.  Pym, 

-      362 

Messrs.  Bonar — Remarks,     -           -           • 

-      363 

Lteralism  at  a  stand,            .           .           •           • 

.      364 

Handle  given  to  the  Jew,      -           -           -           - 

•      365 

Literalism  self-contradictory,           -           -           « 

.     366 

Liteianesn  contradicts  the  New  Testament, 

-     368 

CONTENTS. 


Jewish  Peculiarities  for  ever  gone,  - 
Jewish  Ceremonies  still  expected,  - 
Increase  Mather  on  the  Ceremonies, 
Ezekiel's  Temple,       -  -  -  - 

The  Beggarly  Elements,        -  -  - 

Antiquated  Shadows,  _  .  - 

Admirable  views  of  the  Duke  of  Manchester, 
Summary,      -  -  -  -  - 


Pau 

369 
376 
371 
372 
373 
374 
375 
379 


CHAPTER  V. 


NO  MILLENNIAL  MIXTURE  OF  FAITH   AND   610HT. 

This  as  set  forth  by  Mr.  Brooks,      ...           -           -  380 

Mr.  Elliott, .381 

Mr.  Lord— Mr.  Birks, 382 

Dr.  M'Neile,  Mr,  Bickersteth,  Mr.  Maitland,          -            -  383 

Faith  and  Sight— Grace  and  Glory,             -           -           -           -  384 

Incongruity  of  this,  as  expressed  by  Perry,           ...  385 

T'Mr.  H.  i?onar— The  pavilion-cloud,            -           -           -           -  386 

Either  way — wheiner  Ohnsi  visible  or  invisible  to  mortal  men — 

alike  objectionable,         ---.--  387 


CHAPTER  VI. 


WAY  OF  SALVATION  NO  LESS  NARROW  DURING  THE  MILLENNIUM  THAN 
NOW. 

Dr.  M'NeUe,  Mr.  MaUland,  Mr.  Wood,  Mr.  Brooks,        -  -  390 

Remarks — Millennial  Rest,  ------  391 

Strait  Gate— Narrow  Way, 392 

Few  find  it, 393 

Lust  of  Flesh  and  Eye,  and  Pride  of  Life,  will  need  resistance 

then  even  as  now,  ------  394 

Summary,      ------.-  396 


CHAPTER   VII. 


MILLENNIAL  BINtHNO   OF   SATAN — WHAT   IT   IS   NOT,    AND   WHAT    IT   IS. 

He  that  committeth  Sin  is  of  the  Devil,     -           -           -           -  399 

Satan  stripped  of  the  power  of  Death  over,  and  bruised  under, 

none  but  believers,          ------  400 

Bearing  of  these  Truths       -          -          -          -          -          -  403 


Xii  CONTENTS. 

Faos 

Binding  of  Satan— What  it  is,          -            -            -           -            -  403 

Apocalyptic  language  illustrative  of  this—"  Satan's  Sea.^' 

or  "  Throne,"           -            -           -            -           -            -  403 

Satan  "cast  out— His  place  not  found"— Fall  of  Paganism 

denoted,        -----_.  404 

This  Victory—How  obtained,            -            -           .  406 

f.>ymbolic  language  of  the  Apocalypse,          -           -           .  408 

Satan's  Defeat  in  Antichrist's  destruction,   -           -           -  409 

Meaning  then  is,  No  party  for  Satan  during  the  Millennium,       -  410 

How  effected,  -  -  -  -  -  -  -411 

Supplementary  Remarks — in  reply  to  Mr.  H.  Bonats 

1.  Extent  of  Satanic  Restraint,    -----  412 

Durham^          -------  413 

Vitringa,          -             -             -             -                          -.            -  4^4 

2.  How  Satan  will  be  restrained,              -            -           .           -  416 

Apocalyptic  phraseology  on  this  point,         -            -            -  417 

Human  Instrumentality,        -            -            -           -            .  41a 

This  view  sustained  by  Christ  hij*r:se'f,          -            -           -  419 

Confirmatory  Extracts — Andreas^  Paraug,              -            -  420 

Durham^      -            -            -            -            -            -            -  421 

Edwards,     -            -            -            -            -            -            -  422 

Yet  not  ur^ed  cunfiucnuy,     -----  423 

CHAPTER    VTII. 

LEADING  FEATURES  OF    LATTER  DAY — ITS    CLOSE,  AND   THE  "LITTLE  SEA- 
SON" TO  SUCCEED  IT,  UP  TO  THE  LORD's  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE. 

In  what  sense  the  Latter  Day  is  to  be  viewed  as  in  the  Prophecies,  424 
Leading  Features  of  the  Latter  Day  : 

Universal  diffusion  of  revealed  Truths           -             -            -  425 
Universal  reception  of  true  religion,  and  unlimited  subjec- 
tion to  the  sceptre  of  ChT~ist,            .            .            -            _  426 
Universal  peace,           ------  428 

Much  spiritual  power  and  glory,        -            -             -             -  431 

In-brivging  of  all  Israel,       -----  433 

Ascendency  of  truth  and  righteousness  in  human  affairs^      -  437 

Temqioral  Prosperity,              -----  439 

Setting  of  the  Millennium  Sun,      -----  440 

The  decline  gradual,              ..---.  441 

Satan  at  length  let  loose,       ------  442 

The  "  little  season,"              -           -           -           -           -           -  443 

Nature  and  Extent  of  the  "  Deception,"     •           -           •           -  44^1 


CONTENTS. 


X111 


The  Assault— its  object, 
Vastness  and  confidence  of  the  enemy, 
The  last  Crisis,  .  .  - 

The  Consummation,  -  -  - 

Christ  at  length  comes  to  Judgment; 


445 
446 
447 
448 
449 


PART  III 


OBJECTIONS. 

Objection  First,         -----..  453 

Second,      -----..  4(j2 

Third, 472 

Fourth,      -------  476 

Fifth, 47a 

Sixth,         -           -           -           -           -           -           -  481 

Seventh,     -------  483 

Other  Objections—  General  Reply,   -----  485 

Principle  of  these  Objections — exaggerated  views  of  difference  he- 

Useen  the  present  and  the  millennial  era,            .            -            _  495 
Grand  distinctions  held  forth   in  New  Testament — Natithe  and 
Grace — Grace  and  Glory  ;  and  corresponding  to  these,  the 

First  and  Second  comings  of  the  Church's  Lord,              -  486 

Why  the  Millennium  is  in  the  Apocalypse  only,      -            -            -  435 
Uncertainty  of  commencement  and    close  of  latter  day  [also  of 
"  little  season"  to  follow  it],  and,  consequently,  of  the  period 

of  ChrisVs  coming,          ------  486 

The  "  soons"  and  "qiicklies"  of  Scripture,            -           -            -  487 

CowciasioN,  -           .-.--•-  481 


PREFACE. 


Iif  sending  forth  a  New  Edition  of  this  Volume,  I 
would  devoutly  acknowledge  the  favourable  recep- 
tion given  to  the  first.  The  communications  re- 
ceived from  England,  Ireland,  and  America,  as  well 
as  from  different  parts  of  Scotland,  leave  no  room 
to  doubt  that  it  has  found  its  way  to  the  parties  for 
whom  it  was  chiefly  designed,  and  accomplished  to 
a  considerable  extent  the  objects  for  which  it  was 
undertaken ;  and  believing,  as  I  profoundly  do,  that 
the  doctrine  maintained  in  this  book  is  in  harmony 
with  the  mind  of  God  as  revealed  in  his  word,  I 
have  felt  the  obligation  which  its  acceptance  imposes 
to  make  the  present  edition  as  perfect  as  possible. 

I  will  not  trouble  the  reader  with  explanations  of  the 
tardy  appearance  of  this  edition,  after  the  book  has 
been  so  long  out  of  print,  and  a  reprint  repeatedly 
called  for.  So  long  as  replies  ^o  it  were  issuing  from 
the  press — and  the  last  of  them  has  not  been  many 
months  before  the  public — it  would  scarcely  have 
been  respectful  to  send  it  forth  Eigain  just  as  it  w«i(j. 


XVI  PREFACE. 

Independently  of  this,  the  stated  calls  of  a  city  charge, 
so  unfavourable  for  continued  labour  in  any  tieiu 
but  its  own,  have  occasioned  numerous  interruptions, 
the  effect  of  which,  in  an  occasional  oversight,*  and 
a  tendency  in  some  places  to  repetition — not  easily 
avoided  when  at  times  one  is  compelled  to  write  by 
snatches — the  reader  will  perhaps  kindly  excuse. 
For  the  same  reason  I  venture  to  ask  the  indulgence 
of  my  esteemed  opponents,  should  1  have  omitted  to 
notice  any  thing  of  consequence  advanced  by  them. 
I  think  I  have  not ; — indeed  if  I  have  erred  at  all, 
most  readers  will  think  it  is  on  the  other  side  :  but 
so  extensive  is  the  ground,  and  so  endless  are  the 
details  into  which  one  is  apt  to  be  drawn  in  hand- 
ling this  question,  that  when  confining  myself,  as 
I  found  it  indispensable  to  do,  to  the  leading  points 
under  each  successive  head,  it  is  possible  that  I  may 
not  have  noticed  every  thing  which  is  thought  to 
have  force  on  the  other  side.  No  one,  however,  can 
fail  to  see  that  the  question  is  suspended  upon  the 
points  on  which  I  have  chiefly  dwelt. 

With  regard  to  the  alterations,  omissions,  and 
aoditions  in  this  edition,  they  are  so  numerous  that 
it  would  be  difficult  {o  specify  them.  In  order  to 
make  room  for  the  large  additions  which  the  present 

*  As — p.  210,  note,  lines  2,  3  (but  these  only),  for  which  I  have  to 
crave  Mr.  Elliott's  indulgence — the  eye  having  caught  for  the  mo- 
ment a  different  ohai)ter. 


PREFACE.  XVll 

state  of  the  controversy  had  rendered  necessary,  I 
have  omitted  every  thing  which  I  thought  could 
he  spared  without  injuring  the  main  argument, 
as  also,  with  certain  exceptions,  whatever  might  be 
questioned  by  those  who  are  at  one  with  me  on  the 
principal  points  of  the  controversy.  In  some  cases 
I  have  done  this  with  reluctance,  having  seen  no 
reason  to  change  my  mind  on  the  points  and  passages 
referred  to ;  but  as  large  omissions  were  indispen- 
sable in  the  view  of  so  much  additional  matter,  it 
was  plain  that  these  were  the  places  where  they 
ought  to  be  made.  Another  expedient  for  saving 
space  has  been  to  throw  into  foot-notes  whatever 
could  be  spared  from  the  text,  and  to  print  in  small 
type  the  numerous  extracts  from  authors  on  both 
sides,  and  such  quotations  from  Scripture  as  are 
brought  forward  as  proofs.  In  point  of  arrangement, 
I  think  the  book  considerably  improved  ;  all  that 
belongs  distinctively  to  the  subject  of  the  Millennium 
being  separated  from  what  relates  more  strictly  to  the 
Second  Advent,  and  such  Objections  as  did  not  seem 
to  fall  naturally  under  any  of  the  points  discussed 
in  these  two  divisions,  being  put  by  themselves  at 
the  end.  The  matter  thus  falls  asunder  of  itself 
into  Three  Parts— The  Second  Advent;  The  Mil- 
leimium;  Objections.  Most  of  the  Second  Part, 
and  not  a  littl?  of  Part  First,  is  new;  and  while 
62 


XVm  PREFACE. 

every  paragraph  has  been  carefully  revised,  a  f»ill 
half  of  the  whole  appears  now  for  the  first  time. 
One  omission,  inadvertently  made  in  the  first  edition, 
has  been  amply  supplied  in  this.  By  means  of  the 
full  Table  of  Contents,  the  General  Index,  the  Index 
of  Texts,  and  Index  of  Authors,  the  reader,  it  is 
hoped,  will  have  no  difficulty  in  finding-  any  thing  he 
wishes  to  turn  to  in  the  volume.  An  apology  is  due 
here  to  the  scholar  for  the  absence  of  all  but  the 
circuwfiex  and  the  aspirate  in  the  Greek — a  plan 
hastily  adopted  at  first,  to  save  trouble  in  correct- 
ing the  press,  and  continued,  after  its  awkwardness 
was  fully  perceived,  only  for  uniformity's  sake. 

The  replies  with  which  I  have  been  favoured  are 
not  few.  In  addition  to  a  small  tract  by  Mr.  Wood, 
a  volume  by  Mr.  Scott,  a  chapter  of  the  sixth  edi- 
tion of  Mr.  Bickersteth's  "Signs  of  the  Times," 
the  Duke  of  Manchester  has  honoured  me  with  a 
pretty  full  reply,  in  a  lengthened  appendix  to  hig 
"  Finished  Mystery ;"  Mr.  A.  Bonar  has  published 
"  Redemption  Drawing  Nigh"  in  reply  to  me  ;  and 
Mr.  H.  Bonar,  besides  the  reference  to  my  book, 
though  not  by  name,  throughout  the  greater  part 
of  his  "  Prophetical  Landmarks,"  has  reviewed  it 
in  three  long  articles  in  the  Preshyterian  Review^  and, 
since  the  cessation  of  that  periodical,  has  em- 
bodied  the  srbstance   of    these    articles,    with    very 


PREFACE.  XIX 

large  additions,  in  a  volume  issued  a  few  months 
since,  entitled,  "The  Commg  and  Kingdom  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  being  an  Examination  of  the 
Work  of  the  Rev.  D.  Brown  on  the  Second  Coming 
of  the  Lord."*  From  some  of  these  repHes  I  have 
received  vahiable  hints,  particularly  from  the  Duke 
ofManchester's  volume,  in  which  a  close  and  acute 
study  of  Scripture  is  observable.  I  have  endeavoured 
to  weigh  ever}^  argument  in  these  replies  dispassion- 
ately, and  I  fondly  hope  I  have  not  transgressed  the 
limits  of  Christian  courtesy  in  my  remarks  on  them. 
Some  expressions  in  the  former  edition,  which  have 
been  objected  to  on  this  ground,  I  have  expunged  ; 
others,  even  after  they  were  printed,  have  been  altered, 
lest  they  should  convey  to  the  reader  more  than  they 
were  meant  to  express ;  and  if  once  or  twice  I  have 
used  strong  language  in  reference  to  the  startling, 
and,  as  it  appeared  to  me,  perilous  ground  which 
some  are  prepared  to  occupy  in  defence  of  tfieir 
theory,  it  has  been  with  the  single  and  well-weii^hed 
purpose  of  marking  the  feeling  which  I  think  such 
speculations  ought  to  awaken,  and  I  claim  from  the 
esteemed  brethren  to  whom  these  remarks  apply,  the 
credit  of  being  actuated  by  no  unbrotherly  feeling 
toward  themselves. 

*  The  titles  of  the  works  quoted  are  given,  once  at  least,  with  suf" 
ficient  fulness  for  reference.  Up  to  p.  180,  the  references  to  "  Mr. 
H.  Bonar"  are  to  his  '•  Landmarks ;"  after  that,  his  recent  book 
UavJLg  only  then  appeared,  i\\e  references  are  to  it. 


XX  PREFACE. 

On  the  mode  of  conducting  this  invesligation,  some 
remarks  have  been  made    by   Mr.  H.  Bonar,  in    the 
Preface    to  his  last  work,   which,  as  they   affect  the 
whole  structure   of  this  volume,  and   may  prejudice 
some  against  it  by  whom  he  is  justly  respected,  I  shall 
be  excused  for  noticing  here.     Mr.  Bonar  would  ar- 
range not  only  his  own  materials,  but  mine  too.     On 
such  matters  hardly  two  people  are  found  exactly  to 
agree.     That  my  plan  is  abstractly  the  best  I  am  so 
far  from  affirming,  that  if  I  were  free  to  follow  my 
own  taste,  it  would  be  perfectly  different  from  what 
it  is.     It  is  because  I   thought  the  method   actually 
adopted  the  most  suitable  for  embracing  all  the  mul- 
tifarious aspects  of  the  question  in  a  luminous  man- 
ner,  and    with  some    degree    of  completeness   under 
each  head,  that  I  selected  it.     Mr.  Bonar  should,  at 
least,    have  correctly    reported    what    my   plan   was, 
which   he   is  far   from  having  done.     He  represents 
me  as  occupying  the  first  half  of  my  book  with  "  the 
inferential  and  theological  difficulties  of  the  pre-mil 
lennial   scheme,    leaving   its    scripturalness   to   the 
last."*     The    answer    to    this    is   more    simple   than 
pleasant — It  is  not   the  fact.     I  prove,  for   example, 
from  Scripture,  that  the  Church,  in  the  most  absolute 

*  Passages  have  even  been  quoted  and  reiterated  from  Waterland, 
by  which  I  am  represented  as  imitating  the  Socinians,  who  elude  the 
Scripture  evidence  for  the  Trinity  by  taking  refuge  in  the  natural  im- 
possibiLily  of  the  do-^^trine. — (Mr.  H.  Bonar,  p.  70,  from  Mr.  "Wood's 
Affirm.  Answ.) 


PREFACE.  XXI 

sense  of  that  term,  will  be  completed  when  Christ 
comes  ;  and  so  the  theory  which  tells  us  that  it  will 
not,  inasmuch  as  a  large  portion  of  Christ's  redeem- 
ed people  will  have  to  be  converted,  trained  and  per- 
fected after  he  comes — is  unscriptural.  I  hardly 
think  it  right  to  treat  this  as  a  inere  "  inferential"  argu- 
ment— a  "  theological  difficulty.*'  Again,  I  prove  from 
Scripture  that  the  Resurrection  and  the  Judgment  of 
all  mankind  will  be  simultaneous  ;  and  so  the  theory 
which  breaks  up  both  of  these  into  fragments,  separat- 
ed by  a  thousand  years,  and  makes  no  provision  for 
any  resurrection  and  judgment  at  all  of  the  myriads 
who  people  the  earth  during  the  millennium,  is 
unscriptural.  If  this  is  to  be  run  down  as  mere 
inferential  reasoning,  I  am  afraid  that  very  few 
arguments,  even  in  Mr.  Bonar's  own  books,  would 
escape  condemnation,  and  that  the  strongest  argu- 
ments In  the  Socinian  and  Popish  controversies 
would  have  to  be  set  down  on  the  same  ground. 
I  have  purposely  avoided  all  such  remarks  on  the 
writings  of  my  brethren  on  the  other  side,  and  could 
have  wished  that  Mr.  Bonar  had  done  the  same. 

It  has  been  said,  too,  strangely  enough,  that.  I 
have  nothing  but  negative  opinions  to  maintain. 
"  I  miss,"  says  Mr.  Bonar,  "  the  building  up  of  his 
own  system,  for  which  there  is  no  space  allowed, 
and  in  behalf  of  which  no  direct  and  positive  proof 


XXll  PREFACE. 

texts  are  urged.'      Here  also  I  have  just  to  say — It 

is  wholly  iacorrect.  "  My  system"  is,  that  Christ 
"  will  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired 
in  all  them  that  believe,"  when  that  prayer  of  Hia 
shall  be  answered,  "  Father,  I  will  that  they  whom 
thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that 
they  may  behold  my  glory."  Mr.  Bonar's  system 
is,  that  he  will  come  to  be  glorified  in  but  a  portion 
of  his  saints,  and  admired  only  in  so  many  of  them 
that  believe  as  have  lived  before  the  millennium — the 
rest  to  be  brought  in  by  degrees  after  Christ  comes, 
and  to  remain  in  the  flesh  as  subjects  of  the  former 
class.  i\.gain,  it  is  my  object  to  prove  that  the  king- 
dom of  grace  will  continue  till  there  shall  not  be  one 
soul  more  to  gather  in,  embracing  within  its  ample 
bosom  the  state  of  the  Church,  millennium  and  all, 
"  till  the  heavens  be  no  more."  In  a  word,  it  is  the 
object  of  this  book  to  show  that  "  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  that  are  now"  shall  continue  so  long  as 
sin  and  death  remain,  that  is,  not  only  to  the  end 
of  the  millennium,  but  of  the  "  little  season"  of 
degeneracy  and  rebellion  that  is  to  succeed  it ;  and 
after  that^  I  "look  for  new  heavens  and  a  new 
earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness"  —  unmixed 
with  "  any  thing  that  defileth ;"  while  Mr.  Bonar 
belie\'es  there  will  be  sin  and  death  for  a  thou- 
,-j sand  years  after  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth 


FREFACE,  XXm 

shall  hate  been  created.  The  positive  and  the  nega- 
tive of  these,  and  all  such  propositions,  may  easily 
be  made  to  change  sides,  according  to  the  form  in 
which  they  are  put ;  but  nothing  is  gained  by  such 
verbal  processes,  and  Mr.  Bonar  should  not  insist 
that  I  shall  shape  my  conclusions  according  to  no 
formula  but  his  own.  "  Bring  out,"  says  he,  "  all  the 
passages  of  Scripture  in  which  the  millennium  is 
placed  first."  But  what  if  1  show  that  the  naming  of 
this  period  in  no  book  of  Scripture  but  the  Apo- 
calypse, and  its  being  only  implied  in  other  parts  of 
the  New  Testament,  is  just  v)hat  we  should  expect ,  if 
my  view  of  it  be  correct?  In  that  case  the  method 
suggested  to  me  will  not  strike  one  as  the  happiest. 
In  fact,  perceiving  the  drift  of  these  criticisms,  I 
have  puposely  altered  my  phraseology,  so  as  to 
keep  more  clearly  and  constantly  before  the  reader 
the  only  thing  in  this  controversy  for  which  I  was 
induced  to  take  it  up,  and  which  it  has  been  my  one 
object  to  show — that  the  theory  of  a  kingdom  of 
mortal  and  sinful  men  in  the  new  heavens  and  new 
earth,  under  the  government  of  Christ,  after  he  shall 
have  come  in  his  glory,  and  of  a  company  of  glorified 
eaints  along  with  him,  is,  in  every  light  in  which  it 
can  be  viewed,  unscriptural  and  pernicious.  Every 
thing  about  the  millennium  is  incidental  to  this,  so  far 
as  the  present  volume  is  concerned. 


XXIV  PREFACE. 

Since  the  publication  of  my  former  edition,  there 
has  been  some  able  writing  on  the  same  side.  I 
would  particularise  a  long  article  entitled,'  "  Modern 
Millennarianism,"  in  the  British  (Quarterly  Review  for 
February,  1849.  "  The  Spiritual  Reign,  by  Clemens" 
(second  edition,  1849),  is  one  of  the  few  lay  pro- 
ductions on  this  question  that  will  repay  perusal. 

May  the  Lord  keep  the  eye  of  his  Church  on 
"  That  Day"  when  He  shall  be  "  revealed  from  hea- 
ven in  flaming  fire,"  to  the  terror  of  his  enemies  and 
the  joy  of  his  waiting  people  ;  when  "  from  His  Face 
the  earth  and  the  hci^veiis  shall  flee  away,  and  no 
place  shall  '  ;  h\n^  Um  them;"  but  instead  of 
them  shall  be  ^nevv  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  where- 
in dwelleth  righteousness,"  and  "  the  righteous  shall 
shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their 
Father."  If  this  be  our  habitual  attitude,  it  wiL 
matter  comparatively  little  "  whether  He  shall  come 
in  the  second  watch,"  as  one  class  think,  "  or  come 
in  the  third  or  fourth  watch,"  as  others  think  ;  for  in 
either  case,  "  when  he  cometh,  we  shall  open  to  him 
immediately  !" 

Glasg  )w,  October  1,  1849. 


CHRIST'S  SECOND   COMING,  &C. 


CHAPTER  I. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  question  to  be  discussed  in  this  volume  seems  periodi- 
cally to  agitate  the  Church.  In  times  of  general  excite- 
ment, of  extensive  change,  of  pervading  uneasiness  and 
trial,  this  question  invariably  rises  to  the  surface.  On  what 
principle  this  is  to  be  accounted  for,  and  how  it  bears  on 
the  merits  of  the  controversy,  it  would  be  premature,  in 
these  opening  paragraphs,  to  hazard  an  opinion.  The  fact, 
however,  is  as  unquestionable  as  it  is  worthy  of  notice.  The 
struggles  of  the  primitive  Church  forced  it  up,  and  kept  it 
alive ;  with  the  battles  of  the  Reformation  it  revived  ;  in 
the  exciting  times  of  the  English  commonwealth  it  took  a 
pretty  prominent  place  among  the  multitudinous  questions 
which  distracted  the  Church  ;  in  a  word,  the  first  French 
Revolution — startling  Europe,  intellectually  as  well  as  po- 
litically, from  the  sepulchral  repose  of  the  last  century, 
shaking  the  old  continent  to  its  centre,  and  impregnating 
the  entire  social  system  with  new  elements  both  of  good  and 
of  evil — woke  it  up,  and  set  inquiring  minds  to  work  upon 

A 


2  INTRODUCTORY    REMARKS. 

it,  to  an  extent  unknown  before.  While  some,  carried  away 
by  the  unparalleled  success  of  modern  missions,  hastily  anti- 
cipated the  peaceful  subjugation  of  the  world  to  Christ, 
others  were  hurried  into  the  opposite  extreme,  of  pronoun- 
cing all  missionary  exertions  next  to  hopeless,  without  the 
personal  appearing,  and  the  immediate  agency  of  Christ. 
Since  then,  the  changes  in  public  affairs,  both  political  and 
ecclesiastical,  have  been  too  organic  and  exciting  to  allow  of 
this  question  going  to  rest ;  and  if  the  prophet's  inquiry, 
"  O  my  Lord^  what  shall  he  the  end  of  these  things  ?"  has 
been  acquiring  increased  interest  from  year  to  year,  as  each 
new  feature  in  the  times  more  startling  than  another  has 
developed  itself,  we  may  safely  predict  that  the  convulsions 
of  the  past  year,  with  all  their  appalling  and  wide-spread 
effects — of  which  we  have  yet  probably  seen  but  few — will 
only  deepen  the  excitement  which  keeps  alive  this  question  : 
"  men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear,  and  for  looking  after 
those  things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth." 

At  such  a  time  emphatically,  "  we  do  well  to  take  heed 
to  the  sure  word  of  prophecy,  as  to  a  light  that  shineth  in 
a  dark  place,  until  the  day  dawn  and  the  day-star  arise  ic 
our  hearts."  But  all  the  more  does  it  behove  us  to  see  that 
the  light  that  is  in  us  be  not  darkness.  Great  Mistakes  have 
undeniably  been  committed  by  the  students  of  prophecy 
from  age  to  age ;  mistakes  which  time — that  infallible  ex- 
pounder of  the  Divine  counsels — has  in  every  case  ulti- 
mately detected,  but  not  till,  in  many  instances,  they  had 
wrought  confusion  and  every  evil  work.  Certainly,  the 
Thessalonians,  "  shaken  and  troubled  in  mind"  by  parties 
who  persuaded  them  that  "  the  day  of  Christ  was  at  hand, 
even  at  the  doors,"  were  mistaken  ;  nor  was  the  mistake 
dealt  with,  in  the  exercise  of  apostolic  fidelity,  as  a  perfectly 
harmless  one.  It  is  notorious,  too,  that  a  large  number  of 
the  primitive  Christians,  for  three  centuries,  fell  into  the  sam€ 


INTRODUCTORY    REMARKS.  3 

mistake,  expecting  the  struggles  in  which  they  were  engaged 
to  issue  in  the  personal  appearing  of  their  Lord,  and  "  the 
first  resurrection"  of  his  martyred  witnesses.  The  militant 
did,  indeed,  become  a  triumphant  Church,  but  in  a  very 
different  sense  from  what  was  expected.  The  martyred  tes- 
timony of  Jesus  "  lived  and  reigned,"  but  the  martyrs  them- 
selves lived  not.  The  Gospel  slew  the  great  red  dragon — - 
Paganism  was  defeated  in  the  high  places  of  the  field — 
Christianity  ascended  the  throne  of  the  Caesars  :  that  was 
the  reality  contemplated  in  the  Word,  but  which  the  enthu- 
siasm of  so  many  had  led  them  to  misinterpret.  The  same 
mistake,  nevertheless,  has  been  again  and  again  committed 
— never  with  imperfect  punity,  and  sometimes  with  conse- 
quences truly  deplorable. 

One  day,  however,  the  Redeemer  will  assuredly  come  in 
person.  Is  that  day,  then,  now  "  at  hand,  even  at  the 
doors  ?"  or,  "  shall  that  day  not  come  until"  certain  events, 
yet  far  in  the  future,  have  prepared  the  way  for  it  ?  A 
momentous  question  truly ;  yet  not  precisely  the  question 
which  I  am  to  discuss.  What  I  have  to  investigate  is  not 
when,  hut  for  what  purposes,  the  Redeemer  will  come. 

Some  appear  to  think  that  all  the  difference  of  opinion  on 
the  second  advent  is  about  its  nearness  or  distance.  The 
sooner  they  undeceive  themselves  on  this  the  better.  For 
my  own  part,  if  that  were  all,  I  should  let  the  subject  alone. 
To  me,  the  coming  of  the  Lord  should  be  as  dear  as  to  any 
whose  views  about  his  coming  I  am  to  examine.  To  "  love 
his  appearing"  is  not  the  monopoly  of  a  section  of  hia 
friends.  To  enter  the  lists,  therefore,  with  those  who  think 
he  is  at  the  doors,  with  the  mere  view  of  showing  that  he  is 
not.  though  it  may  at  times  become  a  necessary  duty,  to  pre- 
vent disappointment,*  is  not  the  most  agreeable   of  tasks. 

*  Sed  et  illi  quibus  dicebat  apostolus,  Non  cito  Tnoveamini  mente^  qucun 
isfistet  dies  Domini,  diligebant  uLque  adventum  Domini :  nee  eos  hoc  dt* 


4  PRE-MILLENNIAL.  THEORY    STATED. 

A  very  different  task,  however,  is  mine.  Certain  events,  yet 
future,  are  expected  on  all  hands  to  take  place  upon  earth — 
for  example,  the  subjugation  of  the  whole  world  to  Christ. 
If,  then,  he  is  to  come  before  this,  he  may  even  now  be  at  the 
doors  ;  whereas,  if  he  is  not  to  come  till  after  this,  it  cannot, 
of  course,  be  quite  so  near.  So  far,  therefore,  the  question 
of  timo  is  involved  ;  but  quite  indirectly  and  subordinately. 
What  we  have  mainly  to  do  with  is  the  events.  According 
as  these  are  expected  before  or  after  the  coming  of  Christ, 
will  be  the  character  and  complexion  they  assume  in  our 
eyes.  If  after  his  coming,  he  will  be  expected  to  re-consti- 
tute the  mortal  state.,  and  establish  a  terrestrial  kingdom, 
illuminated  by  the  beams  of  his  glory ^  and  pervaded  by  the 
sense  of  his  visible  presence.  Is  this,  then,  what  we  are  taught 
to  look  for  ?  The  system,  in  short,  which  I  am  to  bring  to 
the  test  of  Scripture  is  briefly  this  : 

That  the  fleshly  and  sublunary  state  is  not  to  ter- 
minate VflTH  the  SECOND  COMING  OF  ChrIST,  BUT  TO  BE 
THEN  SET  UP  IN  A  NEW  FORM  ;  Vi^HEN,  WITH  HIS  GLORIFIED 
SAINTS,  THE  REDEEMER  WILL  REIGN  IN  PERSON  ON  THE 
THRONE  OF  DaVID  AT  JERUSALEM  FOR  A  THOUSAND  YEARS, 
OVER  A  WORLD  OF  MEN  YET  IN  THE  FLESH,  EATING  AND 
DRINKING,  PLANTING  AND  BUILDING,  MARRYING  AND  GIVING 
IN  MARRIAGE,  UNDER  THIS  MYSTERIOUS  SWAY. 

This  is  Pre-millen?iialism,  or — as  the  early  fathers,  and 
after  them  the   Reformers  and  our  elder  divines,  termed 

cens  doctor  gentium  ab  illsi  dilectione  frangebat,  qua  ut  inflammarentur 
volebat ;  et  ideo  nolebat  ut  crederent  eis,  a  quibus  audiebant  instare  diem 
Domini,  ne  forte  cum  transisset  tempus  quo  eum  crediderant  esse  ven- 
turum,  et  venisse  non  cernerent,  etiam  cetera  fa.'iaciter  sibi  promitti  ar- 
bitrantes,  et  de  mercede  fidei  desperarent.  Non  ergo  ille  diligit  adventum 
Domini  qui  eum  asserit  propinquare,  aut  ille  qui  asserit  non  propinquare  ; 
Bed  ille  potius,  qui  eum  sive  prope  sive  longe  sit,  sinceritate  fidei,  firmi^ 
tate  spei,  ardore  caritatis  exspectat. — August.  Epist.  cxcix.  15. 


DIVERSITIES    NOT    TAKEN    INTO    ACCOUNT.  5 

it —  Ckiliasm ;  that  is,  the  expectation  of  a  thousand 
years  reign  upon  earth  after  the  second  coming  of  Christ.* 
In  the  above  statement  I  have  expressed  only  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  system,  to  which  nearly  all  the  expect- 
ants of  the  pre-millennial  advent  would  subscribe,  keeping 
clear  of  the  points  on  which  they  are  divided.  I  have  said, 
for  example,  that  they  expect  the  saints^  in  glorified  bodies, 
to  be  associated  with  Christ  in  his  millennial  reign;  but 
what  saints  is  not  agreed.  The  early  chiliasts — so  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  gather  their  views — thought  that  those 
whom  Christ  will  find  alive  at  his  coming  would  be  left  be- 
low during  the  thousand  years,  and  only  such  as  had  died 
before  his  coming  would  appear  with  him  in  glory.  A  few 
in  modern  times  are  of  the  same  opinion,  postponing  the 
change  of  the  living  saints  till  the  end  of  the  millennium. 
But  the  great  majority  of  modern  pre-millennialists  hold 
that  the  saints  of  both  classes — the  dead  by  resurrection, 
and  the  living  by  instantaneous  transformation — will  appear 
with  Christ  in  glory  at  the  beginning  of  the  millennium.! 
Again,  I  have  said  they  look  for  a  reign  over  a  world  of  men 
in  Jiesh  and  blood ;  but  what  men  is  not  agreed.  The 
moderns,  for  the  most  part,  expect  the  restoration  of  the 
Jews  to  Palestine,  and  their  supremacy  over  the  nations 
of  the  earth  ;|  while  the  early  chiliasts  appear  to  have 
held,  with  their  opponents,  that  Christianity  had  for  ever 

*  Hi  autem  qui  spiritales  sunt,  istos  ita  credentes  ;^tXtaoTaf  appel- 
lant Graeco  vocabulo ;  quos,  verbum  e  verbo  exprimentes,  nos  possumus 
Milliarios  nuncupare.— August.  De  Civit.  Dei,  lib.  xx.  cap.  vii.  1. 
'KiXiaarai,  quos  nos  dicere  possumus  Milliarios. — Hieron.  in  Esa.  Ixv. 
22,  23. 

t  Mr.  Burgh  limits  the  saints  of  the  first  resurrection  to  sufferers  for 
Christ,  in  contradistinction  from  believers  at  large. — Lectures  on  the 
Second  Advent,  and  Exposition  of  the  Book  of  Revelation. 

t  Certain  American  writers  have  lately  revived  the  old  opinion,  that 
the  millenniai..  earth  will  be  A^hoUy  in  possession  of  the  glorified  saints 
A3 


0  DIVERSITIES    NOT     /aKEN    INTO    ACCOUNT. 

abolished  Jewish  peculiarities  j  and  though,  in  spite  of 
this,  they  were  termed  Judaisers,  this  was  not,  so  far  as  I 
can  observe,  because  they  contended  for  any  millennial 
supremacy  of  Jews  over  Gentiles,  but  because  their  system 
Judaised  Christianity  itself.  In  a  word,  I  have  said  they 
expect  a  reign  upon  earth  of  Christ  and  his  glorified  saints  ; 
but  whether  actually  upon  the  earth,  or  only  over  and  hover- 
ing above  it,  in  the  air,  and  whether  visibly  or  invisibly — 
whether  the  ruled  will  see  their  rulejs,  and,  if  so,  to  what 
extent,  whether  fully  or  but  partially,  whether  always  or 
only  at  times — is  by  no  means  agreed. 

These  and  other  points  of  difference  I  have  purposely 
avoided  in  my  statement  of  their  doctrine.  Even  in  the 
sequel,  they  will  be  noticed  only  in  so  far  as  they  affect  the 
common  element — the  essence  of  the  system  ;  I  mean,  the 
expectation  of  a  mortal  and  sublunary  state  after  the  second 
advent — of  a  glorified  and  fleshly  stale  of  humanity,  as 
constituting  the  upper  and  lower  departments  of  one  and  the 
same  millennial  kingdom. 

This  is  the   doctrine  which,  by  the  light  of  God's  Word, 

1  have  undertaken  to  examine.  Some  may  think  it  of 
small  consequence  whether  this  system  be  true  or  false; 
but  no  one  who  intelligently  surveys  its  nature  and  bear- 
ings can  be  of  that  opinion.  Pre-millennialism  is  no  barren 
speculation — useless  though  true,  and  innocuous  though 
false.  It  is  a  school  of  Scripture  interpretation  ;  it  impinges 
upon  and  affects  some  of  the  most  commanding  points  of 
the  Christian  faith  ;  and,  when  suffered  to  work  its  unim- 
peded way,  it  stops  not  till  it  has  pervaded  with  its  own 
genius  the  entire  system  of  one's  theology,  and  the  whole  tone 
of  his  spiritual  character,  constructing,  I  had  almost  said,  a 

Mr.  Burchell,  in  his  Midnight  Cry,  which  did  not  appear  till  this  sheet 
was  in  type,  takes  the  same  viev. 


PREJUDICES.  7 

world  of  its  own ;  so  that,  holding  the  same  faith,  and 
cherishing  the  same  fundamental  hopes  as  other  Christians, 
he  yet  sees  things  through  a  medium  of  his  own,  and  finds 
every  thing  instinct  with  the  life  which  this  doctrine  has 
generated  within  him. 

Let  us  not,  however,  prejudge  the  question.  There  is 
danger  of  this  on  both  sides.  On  the  one  hand,  there  are 
certain  minds  which,  either  from  constitutional  tempera- 
ment, or  the  particular  school  of  theology  to  which  they 
are  attached,  have  tendencies  in  the  direction  of  pre-millen- 
nialism  so  strong,  that  they  are  ready  to  embrace  it  almost 
immediately  co7i  amore.  Souls  that  burn  with  love  to 
Christ — who  with  the  mother  of  Sisera,  cry  through  the 
lattice,  "  Why  is  his  chariot  so  long  in  coming  1  why  tarry 
the  wheels  of  his  chariots?"  and  with  the  spouse,  "  Make 
haste,  my  Beloved,  and  be  thou  like  to  a  roe  or  a  young 
hart  upon  the  mountains  of  spices" — such  souls  are  ready 
to  catch  at  a  doctrine  which  seems  to  promise  a  much 
earlier  appearing  of  their  beloved  Lord  than  the  ordinary 
view.  "  I  have  heard,"  relates  an  honest  and  warm- 
hearted pre-millennialist  of  the  Commonwealth  time,  "  I 
have  heard  of  a  poor  man  who,  it  seems,  loved  and  longed 
for  Christ's  appearance,  that  when  there  was  a  great 
earthquake,  and  when  many  cried  out  the  day  of  judg- 
ment was  come,  and  one  cried,  '  Alas  !  alas  !  what  shall 
I  do  V  and  a  third,  '  How  shall  I  hide  myself  V  &c.,  that 
poor  man  only  said,  '  Ah  !  is  it  so  ?  Is  the  day  come  ? 
Where  shall  I  go  ?  Upon  what  mountain  shall  I  stand 
to  see  my  Saviour  V  "*  How  deeply  we  sympathize  with 
this  feeling  will  by-and-by  appear.  It  is  for  such  as  feel 
thus,  more   than  for   any  others,  that  I  have  undertaken 

*  Christ's  Appearance  the  Second  Time  for  the  Salvation  of  2?c- 
lievers.  [By  John  Durant]  1653.  Hatchard's  Reprint,  p.  119.  Lond, 
1829. 


b  IN    FAVOUR    OF    THE    PRE-MILLENNIAL    ADVENT. 

this  investigation. — There  are  next,  your  curious  and  rest- 
less  spirits  who  feed  upon  the  future.  These  are  charmed 
with  the  multifarious  details  of  the  millennial  kingdom, 
They  are  in  their  very  element  when  settling  the  order  in 
which  the  events  shall  occur,  separating  the  felicities  of  the 
kingdom  into  its  terrestrial  and  celestial  departments  re- 
spectively, sorting  the  multitudinous  particulars  relating  to 
the  Ezekiel  and  Apocalyptic  cities — and  such  like  studies. 
For  such  minds,  whose  appetite  for  the  marvellous  is  the 
predominant  feature  of  their  mental  character,  and  who 
live  in  a  sort  of  unreal  world — for  these,  the  confused  and 
shadowy  grandeur  of  a  kingdom  of  glory  upon  earth,  with 
all  that  relates  to  its  introduction,  its  establishment,  its 
administration,  and  its  connexion  with  the  final  and  un- 
changing state,  opens  up  a  subject  of  surpassing  interest 
and  riveting  delight — the  very  food  which  their  peculiar 
temperament  craves  and  feeds  on.  And,  to  mention  no 
more,  there  are  those  who  seem  to  have  a  constitutional 
tendency  to  materialize  the  objects  of  faith,  and  can  hardly 
conceive  of  them  save  as  more  or  less  implicated  with  this 
terrestrial  platform.  Such  minds,  it  is  superfluous  to  ob- 
serve, will  have  a  natural  affinity  with  a  system  which 
brings  the  glory  of  the  resurrection-state  into  immediate 
and  active  communion  with  sublunary  affairs,  and  repre- 
sents the  reign  of  those  who  neither  marry  nor  are  given 
in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven,  as 
consisting  in  a  mysterious  rule  over  men  in  the  flesh,  who 
eat  and  drink,  buy  and  sell,  plant  and  build,  marry  wives, 
and  are  given  in  marriage.  To  set  about  proving  to  per- 
sons of  this  cast  of  mind  that  pre-millennialism  will  not 
stand  the  test  of  Scripture,  is  like  attempting  to  rob  them 
of  a  jewel,  or  to  pluck  the  sun  out  of  the  heavens.  To 
such  minds,  any  other  view  of  the  subject  is  perfectly  bald 
and  repulsive,  while  theirs  is  encircled  with  a  glory  that 


AGAINST    THE    PRE-MILLENNIAL    ADVENT.  9 

excelleth.     To  them  it  carries  the  force  of  intuitive  percep- 
tion ;  the  J  feel — they  know  it  to  be  true. 

But  are  there  no  a^i/z-premillennial  tendencies,  which 
require  to  be  guarded  against  ?  1  think  there  are.  Under 
the  influence  of  such  tendencies,  the  inspired  text,  as  such, 
presents  no  rich  and  exhaustless  field  of  prayerful  and  de- 
lighted investigation  ;  exegetical  inquiries  and  discoveries 
are  an  uncongenial  element  ;  and  whatever  Scripture  inti- 
mations regarding  the  future  destinies  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  world  involve  events  out  of  the  usual  range  of  human 
occurrences,  or  exceeding  the  anticipations  of  enlightened 
Christian  sagacity,  are  almost  instinctively  overlooked  or 
softened  down.  Such  minds  turn  away  from  pre-millen- 
nialism  just  as  instinctively  as  the  others  are  attracted  to  it. 
The  bare  statement  of  its  principles  carries  to  their  mind 
its  own  refutation — not  so  much  from  its  perceived  un- 
scripturalness  as  from  the  absurdity  which  it  seems  to  carry 
on  the  face  of  it.  They  have  hardly  patience  to  listen  to 
it.  It  requires  an  effort  to  sit  without  a  smile  under  a 
grave  exposition  and  defence  of  it.  If  they  undertake  to 
refute  it,  it  is  a  task  the  irksomeness  of  which  they  are 
unable  to  conceal,  and  their  unfitness  for  which  can  scarcely 
fail  to  appear.  Let  us  try  to  avoid  both  extremes,  inves- 
tigating reverently  the  mind  of  the  Spirit. 

Much  irrelevant  discussion  has  been  mixed  up  with  the 
question  of  the  pre-millennial  advent,  and  arguments  have 
been  advanced  on  both  sides  which  originate  in  confused 
apprehensions  of  the  whole  subject. 

Some  pre-millennialists,  for  example,  seem  to  think  that 
the  belief  in  a  personal  advent  is  confined  to  themselves, 
and  that  those  who  repudiate  a  pre-millennial  advent  are 
not  expecting  their  adorable  Lord  in  person  at  all.  Surely 
BO  gross  a  misrepres3ntation  does  not  require  to  be  pro- 


iO  IRRELEVANT    MATTER. 

tested  against.  It  is  the  time,  and  consequently  the  objedSj 
of  the  Redeemer's  coming  that  are  in  question — not  its 
reality. 

Another  misconception  relates  to  the  final  destiny  of 
the  present  physical  system — "  the  heavens  and  earth 
which  are  now."  That  these  are  not  to  be  annihilated, 
but  to  furnish  the  elements  out  of  which  "  the  new 
heavens  and  the  new  earth"  are  to  emerge,  after  the  gene- 
ral conflagration,  is  zealously  maintained  by  most  modern 
pre-millennialists,  as  part  of  their  system,  and  as  what 
their  opponents  may  be  expected  to  repudiate.  But  this 
is  quite  a  mistake.  In  point  of  fact,  the  primitive  and  the 
earlier  English  advocates  of  that  doctrine  seem  to  have 
taken  other  views  of  the  final  abode  of  the  redeemed  ;  while, 
in  our  own  day,  neither  do  all  of  them  affirm  it,  nor  is  it 
denied  by  all  their  opponents.  Mr.  Tyso,  for  example, 
insists  that  after  the  thousand  years'  reign  of  Christ  upon 
earth,  he  and  his  people  will  take  their  leave  of  it  for 
ever;  while  Dr.  Urwick  of  Dublin,  writing  against  the 
pre-millennial  doctrine,  maintains,  at  some  length,  that 
the  eternal  abode  of  the  glorified  Church  is  to  rise  out  of 
the  ashes  of  this  present  earth.  So  does  Mr.  Fairbairn,  in 
his  able  work  on  the  Typology  of  Scripture,  and  seve- 
ral others.*  Some  minds  shrink  from  this  latter  opinion, 
as  tending  to  carnalize,  or  at  least  to  lower,  our  views  of 
the  celestial  state.  But  may  not  such  sensitiveness  spring 
from  an  unconscious  confounding  of  the  present  wretched 
state  with  that  which  is  expected  to  take  its  place  ?  May 
there  not  be  in  it  some  tincture  of  that  morbid  spiritualism, 
which  shrinks  from  the  very  touch  of  materialism,  as  if 
separation  from  it  in  every  form  would  be  the  consumma- 
tion of  happiness  1     May  not  the  Gnostic  element — of  the 

*  The  literature  of  this  question,  in  the  Augustan  age  of  theology 
may  be  seen  in  De  Moor  (Coram.  v.\  Marck.  Corap.)  xxxiv.  §  30. 


IRRELEVANT    MATTER.  11 

essential  sinfulness  and  vanity  of  matter — be  found  lurk- 
ing beneath  it  ?  Certainly,  if  the  earth  was  implicated  in 
the  curse,  it  is  natural  to  expect  that  it  should  share  in  its 
removal.  Certainly,  the  glorified  bodies  both  of  the  Re- 
deemer and  the  redeemed  derive  their  elements  from  the 
dust  of  this  ground,  which  will  thus — in  their  persons  at 
least — for  ever  endure.  And  if  it  be  no  degradation  to 
the  Son  of  God  to  take  it  into  his  own  person,  "  as  the 
First-born  from  the  dead" — if  the  dust  of  this  ground  is 
capable  of  becoming  a  "  spiritual"  and  a  "  glorious  body," 
meet  vehicle  for  the  perfected  and  beatified  spirit,  the 
sharer  of  its  bliss  in  the  immediate  presence,  and  the  in- 
strument of  all  its  activities  in  the  service,  of  God  and  the 
Lamb — it  does  seem  hard  to  conceive  how  the  very 
system  which  has  furnished  all  these  elements  of  incorrup- 
tion,  and  spirituality,  and  beauty,  and  glory — when  its 
present  constitution  shall  be  dissolved,  and  when  new  and 
higher  laws  shall  be  stamped  upon  it — should  be  incapable 
of  furnishing  a  congenial  abode  for  the  glorified  Church. 
Nor  is  it  easy  to  make  any  thing  else  out  of  Paul's  singu- 
larly interesting  and  noble  announcements  regarding  the 
deliverance  of  a  groaning  creation  from  the  bondage  of 
corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God 
(Rom.  viii.  19-23),  or  fairly  to  interpret  the  celebrated 
prediction  of  Peter  (2  Pet.  iii.  10-13),  otherwise  than  as 
intimating  that  "  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth," 
physically  considered,  will  be  the  same  which  God  origi- 
nally created  for  the  abode  of  men — when  it  shall  have 
undergone  an  igneous,  as  it  has  already  undergone  an 
aqueous,  transformation.  Nor  let  any  one  ask,  Of  what 
consequence  is  it  whether  the  one  opinion  or  the  other  be 
the  correct  one  ?  For  if  this  be  what  the  Spirit  has  seen 
fit  so  specifically  to  reveal,  it  must  be  worthy  of  being 
held  fast  by  us ;    and  whatever  view  we  take  of   it   will 


12  IRRELEVANT    MATTER, 

necessarily  give  its  hue  to  all  other  statements  of  Scripture 
regarding  the  earth. 

But  be  all  this  as  it  may,  the  reader  will  now  see  that  it 
does  not  divide  the  advocates  from  the  opponents  of  the 
pre-millennial  advent.  The  ultimate  destiny  of  our  pre- 
sent physical  system,  is  a  question  on  which  neither  party 
are  unanimous  amongst  themselves,  and  which  may  safely 
be  regarded  as  an  open  qitestian. 


CHAPTER  11. 

Christ's  second  appearing  the  church's  blessed  hope. 

Pre-millennialists  have  done  the  Church  a  real  service, 
by  calling  attention  to  the  place  which  the  second  advent 
holds  in  the  Word  of  God  and  the  scheme  of  divine  truth. 
If  the  controversy  which  they  have  raised  should  issue  in 
a  fresh  and  impartial  inquiry  into  this  branch  of  it,  I,  for 
one,  instead  of  regretting,  shall  rejoice  in  the  agitation  of 
it.  When  they  dilate  upon  the  prominence  given  to  this 
doctrine  in  Scripture,  and  the  practical  uses  which  are 
made  of  it,  they  touch  a  chord  in  the  heart  of  every  simple 
lover  of  his  Lord,  and  carry  conviction  to  all  who  tremble 
at  his  word  ;  so  much  so,  that  I  am  persuaded  nine-tenths 
of  all  who  have  embraced  the  pre-millennial  view  of  the 
second  advent,  have  done  so  on  the  supposition  that  no  other 
view  of  it  will  admit  of  an  unfettered  and  unmodified  use 
of  the  Scripture  language  on  the  subject — that  it  has  its 
proper  interpretation  and  full  force  only  on  this  theory. 
Assertions  to  this  effect  abound  in  the  writings  of  all 
modern  pre-millennialists.  But  the  fact  of  the  scriptural 
prominence  of  this  doctrine,  and  their  inference  from  this 
as  to  the  time  and  the  objects  of  it,  must  not  be  confounded. 
On  the  former,  we  are  cordially  at  one  with  them  ;  on  the 
latter,  we  are  directly  at  issue  with  them.  And  believing, 
as  we  do,  that  the  clearing  of  these  preliminary  points  will 
go  far  with  many  to  settle  the  whole  question,  we  think  that 
a  chapter  on  each  of  them  will  not  be  mis-spent. 

B 


14  Christ's  second  appearing 

With    them    we    affirm,    that .  the    Redeemer's    second 

APPEARING    IS    THE    VERY  POLE-STAR  OF  THE  ChURCH.       That 

it  is  so  held  forth  in  the  New  Testament,  is  beyond  dis- 
pute, Let  any  one  do  himself  the  justice  to  collect  and 
arrange  the  evidence  on  the  subject,  and  he  will  be  sur- 
prised— if  the  study  be  new  to  him — at  once  at  the  copious- 
ness, the  variety,  and  the  conclusiveness  of  it.  It  is  but  a 
specimen  of  that  evidence  that  we  can  give  here. 

Is  it  careless  sinners,  then,  or 
lax  professors,  that  are  to  be  warned  ? 

"  What  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole 
world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  or  what  shall  a  man 
give  in  exchange  for  his  soul  ?  For  the  Son  of 
man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father,  with  hia 
angels ;  and  then  he  shall  reward  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  works."  (Matt.  xvi.  26,  27.) 
"  The  Lord  is  long-suffering  to  us-ward,  not  willing 
that  any  should  perish.  But  the  day  of  the  Lord 
will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night."  (2  Pet.  iii.  9,  10.) 
"  Every  man's  work  shall  be  made  manifest :  for  the  day 
shall  declare  it,  because  it  shall  be  revealed  by  fire." 
(1  Cor.  iii.  13.) 
"  Behold,  the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousand  of  his  saints, 
to  execute  judgment  upon  all,  and  to  convince  all 
that  are  ungodly  among  them  of  all  their  ungodly 
deeds  which  they  have  ungodly  committed,  and  of 
all  their  hard  speeches  which  ung6131y**sinners  have 
spoken  against  him."  (Jude  14,  15.) 
"  Behold^  he  cometh  with  clouds  ;  and  every  eye  shall  see 
him,  and  they  also  which  pierced  him :  and  all  kin- 
dreds of  the  earth  shall  wail  because  of  him.  Even 
so,  Amen."     (Rev.  i.  7.) 

Is  it  SAINTS  that  are  to  be  stimu- 
lated to  a  fearless  testimony  for  Christ,  to  patient  buffering 


15 

for  his  sake,  to  hope,  to  constancy,  to   heavcnly-mindedness 
— to  universal  duty  ? 

"  Whosoever  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  shall  the 
Son  of  man  also  confess  before  the  angels  of  God  " 
(Luke  xii.  8.) 

"  Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery  trial 
which  is  to  try  you,  as  though  some  strange  thing 
happened  unto  you :  but  rejoice,  inasmuch  a»ye  are 
partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings  ;  that,  wlmt  his  glory 
shall  be  revealed^  ye  may  be  glad  also  with  exceeding 
joy."     (1  Pet.  iv.  12,  13.) 

"  Be  patient  therefore,  brethren,  unto  the  coming  of  the 
Lord."     (James  v.  7.) 

"  Gird  up  the  loins  of  your  mind,  be  sober  and  hope  to 
the  end  for  the  grace  that  is  to  be  brought  unto 
you  at  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ^  (I  Pet.  i. 
13.) 

"  Let  your  loins  be  girded  about,  and  your  lights  burn- 
ing ;  and  ye  yourselves  like  unto  men  that  wait  far 
their  lord,  when  he  will  return  from  the  wedding  ; 
that,  when  he  cometh  and  knocketh,  they  may  open 
unto  him  immediately.  Blessed  are  those  servants, 
whom  the  Lord  when  he  cometh  shall  find  watching." 
(Luke  xii.  35-37.) 

"  And  now,  little  children,  abide  in  him ;  that  when  He 
shall  appear,  we  may  have  confidence,  and  not  be 
ashamed  before  him  at  his  coming."  (1  John  ii. 
28.) 

"  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall 
ye  also  appear  with  him  in  glory.  Mortify  there- 
fare  your  members  which  are  upon  the  earth."  (Col. 
ill  4,  5.) 

"  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be :  but  we  know 
that  when  He  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him ; 


16 

for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is.     And  every  man  that 
hath  this  hope  in  Him  {e^'  avrco,  in  the  coming  Ke- 
deemer)  purifieth  himself,  even  as  He  is  pure."     (1 
John  iii.  2,  3.) 
"  The  crown  of  righteousness  which  the  Lord,  the  righte- 
ous Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day :  and  not  to  mo 
only,  but  unto  all  them  also  that  love  his  appearing.^* 
\2  Tim.  iv.  8.) 
"  Our  conversation  is  in  heaven ;  from  whence  also  we 
look  for  the  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."     (Phil. 
iii.  20.) 
"  That  which  ye  have  (already)  hold  fast  till  I  come." 

(Eev.  ii.  25.) 
When  the  Thessalonian   converts  turned  to   God  from 
idols,  it  was  on  the  one  hand  "  to  serve  the  living  and  true 
God  ;"  and  on  the  other.  "  to  wait  for  his  Son  from  heavenP 
(1  Thess.  i.  9,  10.) 

This  "  waiting  for  Christ"  was  the  distinguishing  excel- 
lence of  the  Corinthians :  "  Ye  come  behind  in  no  gift ; 
waiting  for  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  who  shall 
also  confirm  you  unto  the  end,  that  ye  may  be  blameless  in 
the  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.''^     (I  Cor.  i.  7,  8.) 

This  last  passage  suggests  a  class  of  texts,  in  which  the 
second  advent  is  placed  in  a  light  peculiarly  interesting. 
As  the  Church  never  dies,  and  all  that  are  in  Christ  be- 
tween the  two  advents  are  viewed  as  one  continuous  living 
body,  so  in  the  case  of  them  all — whether  dying  before  or 
found  alive  at  his  coming — grace  is  represented  as  termi- 
nating in  glory,  without  an  allusion  to  aught  as  coming 
between.*     Thus : — 

*  Homines  omnium  aetatum  conjunctim  unum  quiddara  repraesen- 
tant :  fidelesque  jam  oiim  expectantes,  habentesque  se  loco  illorum,  qui 
victuri  sunt  in  adventu  Domini,  pro  eorum  persona  locutisunt.  .  .  Una- 
qujeque  generatio,  quae  hoc  vel  illo  tempore  vivit,  occupat  illo  vita)  sua 


THE    CHURCH'S    BLESSED    HOPE  11 

"  Occupy  till  I  come."     (Luke  xix.  13.) 
"  The  very  Grod  of  peace  sanctify  you  wholly  :  and  I  pray 
God  your  whole  spirit,  and  soul,  and  body,  be  pre- 
served blameless  u7ito  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesv^ 
Christ.''     (1  Thess.  v.  23.) 
"  Being  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he  which  hath 
begun  a  good  work  in  you  will  perform  it  until  t/ie 
day  of  Jesus  Christ.'"     (Phil.  i.  6.) 
"  And  this  I  pray,  that  ye  may  be  without  offence,  till  the 

day  of  Christ."     (Phil.  i.  9,  10.) 
"  God  hath  not  appointed  us  to  wrath,  but  to  obtain  sal- 
vation by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for  us, 
that,  whether  we  wake  or  sleep,  we  should  live  to- 
gether with  him."     (1  Thess.  v.  9,  10.) 
"  As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye 
do  show  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come."     1   Cor.  xi. 
26.) 
Delightful   thought !    that   the   close   of    the    believer's 
career  is  to  be  regarded  as  merging  in  the  solemnities  of 
the  second  advent — that  the  beams  of  his  Lord's  glory 
should  be  seen  brightening  the  horizon  of  his  present  abode. 
The  last  companies  of  the  disciples  shall  be  sitting,  per- 
chance, at  his  table — their  hearts  burning  within  them,  as 
the  bleeding  love  of  his  first  advent  rises  before  their  view, 
and   longing   for   the   daybreak   of    his   second   appearing. 
They  scarce  venture  to  hope  that  the  time  for  the  flight  of 
the  shadows  has  come.     Yet  remembering  those   endeared 
words,  "  As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup, 
ye  do  show  the   Lord's  death  till  he  come,"  the  question 
steals   across   them.     What   if  it   should   be    even   now  ? 
Scarcely  has  the  thought  taken  possession   of  them,  when, 
lo  !  a  strange  sensation  is  felt  by  them  all.     The  spirit  of 

tempore  locum  eorum,  qui  tempore  alventus  Domini  victuri  sunt.-- 
Bjtnqkl.,  ad  1  Thess.  iv.  15. 

b2 


i8  Christ's  second  appearing 

each  glows  and  brightens  as  never  it  had  done  before. 
Each  looks  to  his  fellow,  as  if  to  ask,  What  is  this  1  It  k 
"  The  Day-Star  arising  in  their  hearts  !"  (2  Pet.  i. 
19.)  In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  their 
Lord  is  with  them  !  It  is  Himself  He  has  come  at  last, 
in  the  glory  of  his  second  appearing,  and  themselves  and 
the  poor  earthly  tables  at  which  they  sit,  are  transfigured 
into  shining  guests  and  a  table  never  to  be  drawn ! 

There  is  still  another  class  of  texts — the  most  delightful, 
perhaps,  of  all,  and  certainly  the  most  telling  upon  the 
heart — in  which  the  widowed  condition  and  feeling  of  the 
Church,  while  her  Lord  is  absent  from  her  in  the  heavens, 
are  brought  to  view.  And  from  whom  do  we  get  this 
idea  in  its  perfection  1  Is  it  from  the  Apostles  expressing 
the  feeling  which  His  absence  created  in  the  hearts  of  his 
loving  people  ?  No  ;  it  is  from  Christ  himself,  intimating 
what  he  expected  at  their  hands — taking  it  for  granted 
that  they  would  not  be  able  to  do  without  him.  "  And  they 
said  unto  him,  Why  do  the  disciples  of  John  fast  often  and 
make  prayers,  and  the  disciples  of  the  Pharisees,  and  thy 
disciples  fast  not  ?  And  he  said  unto  them.  Can  ye  make 
the  children  of  the  bridechamber  fast  while  the  bridegroom 
is  with  them  1  But  -the  days  will  come  when  the  Bride- 
groom shall  be  taken  away  from  them,  and  then  shall  they 
fast  in  those  days.  No  man  putteth  a  piece  of  a  new  gar- 
ment upon  an  old,"  &c.  (Luke  v.  33-39.)  Would  it  be 
incongruous  in  the  Church  to  mourn  and  feel  desolate  in 
the  presence  of  her  Lord  ?  Not  less  incongruous,  it  seems, 
is  it  not  to  cherish  the  feeling  of  desolation  in  his  absence. 
And  both  are  such  incongruities  as  confounding  the  seasons 
of  fasting  and  feasting,  as  putting  a  piece  of  a  new  garment 
upon  an  old,  as  putting  new  wine  into  old  bottles,  and  pre- 
ferring new  wine  to  old.  Still  more  touchingly  does  this 
thought  find  vent  in  his  lasi  discourse  with  his  disciples,  as 


19 

he  sat  with  them  at  the  communion  .table  in  the  upper 
room  of  Jerusalem,  the  night  before  he  suffered.  As  he 
broke  to  them,  by  little  and  little,  the  sad  news  that  he 
was  about  to  leave  them,  he  poured  forth  the  richest  con- 
solations in  the  views  of  it — "  staying  them  with  flagons,  and 
comforting  them  with  apples."  But  he  had  no  wish  to 
carry  this  too  far ;  and  Jesus  will  think  it  an  abuse  of  his 
consolations,  if  we  have  learned  from  them  to  do  without 
him.  Written  communications  and  tokens  of  affection 
from  the  absent  One  are  dear  to  affection — but  only  when 
himself  cannot  be  had.  Christ's  word,  and  the  seals  of 
his  love  conveyed  to  our  hearts  "by  the  blessed  Spirit,  are 
inexpressibly  dear  to  his  loving  people — but  only  in  the 
absence  of  himself.  And  never  do  we  please  Christ  so 
much  as  when  we  "  refuse  to  be  comforted,"  even  with  his 
own  consolations,  save  in  the  prospect  of  his  Personal 
Retur7i.  "  Do  ye  inquire  among  yourselves  of  that  I 
said,  A  little  while,  and  ye  shall  not  see  me,  and  again,  a 
little  while,  and  ye  shall  see  me  ?  Yerily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  that  ye  shall  weep  and  lament,  but  the  world 
shall  rejoice :  and  ye  shall  be  sorrowful,  but  your  sorrow 
shall  be  turned  into  joy.  A  woman,  when  she  is  in  travail, 
hath  sorrow,  because  her  hour  is  come  :  but  as  soon  as  she 
is  delivered,  she  remembereth  no  more  the  anguish,  for  joy 
that  a  man  is  born  into  the  world.  And  ye  now  therefore, 
have  sorrow,  but  I  will  see  you  again,  and  your  heart  shall 
rejoice,  and  your  joy  no  man  taketh  from  youP  (John  xvi. 
19-22.)* 

*  Felix,  inquam,  ilia  anima  quae  quotidiegemitet  luget,  quiaauctorenj 
omnium  mundi  Salvatorem  Christum  non  videt.  Ipsa  profecto  ridebit 
in  die  novissimo,  et  gaudens  gaudebit  in  aeternum  cum  Chrisio.  Ilia 
vero  quffi  non  gemit  de  Christi  abscessii,  videat  ne  irrefragabiliter 
ploret  in  ejusdem  Christi  adventu.  Ilia  sponsum  sponsa  suuin  non 
simat,  qu£B  pro  desiderio  ilium  videndi  aliquo  tempore  non  suppirat.  .  .  . 
Scio  et  certus  sum,  quod  absterget  Deus  omcsci  lachrymam  ab  oculi* 


20  Christ's  second  appearing 

But  some  will  say,  What  though  we  admit  all  this  ? 
The  second  coming  of  Christ  is  still  an  event  which  will 
not  lake  place  till  the  end  of  the  world.  Holding  it,  there- 
fore, as  an  undoubted  truth,  we  must,  in  the  mean  time, 
look  to  events  nearer  home.  The  dzaih  of  any  individual 
is,  to  all  practical  purposes,  the  coming  of  Christ  to  that 
individual.  It  is  his  summons  to  appear  before  the  judg- 
ment-seat of  Christ.  It  is  to  him  the  close  of  time,  and 
the  opening  of  an  unchanging  eternity,  as  truly  as  the 
second  advent  will  be  to  mankind  at  large.  On  this  I 
submit  the  following  remarks  : — 

Firsts  It  is  at  once  conceded  that  there  is  a  perfect  an- 
alogy between  the  two  classes  of  events — Christ's  second 
coming,  with  its  concurrent  circumstances  and  final  issues, 
on  the  one  hand  :  and  the  death  of  individuals,  and 
all  its  consequences  to  those  individuals,  on  the  other. 
Nor  can  the  application  to  the  latter,  in  their  proper 
place  and  subordinate  sense,  of  the  warnings  suggested 
by  the  former,  be  reasonably  objected  to.  It  is,  in  fact, 
hardly  possible  to  resist  it.  It  comes  spontaneously.* 
Still,  however,  it  is  in  the  way  of  analogy  alone  that  texts 
expressive  of  the  one  can  or  ought  to  be  applied  to  the 
other.     It  can  never  be  warrantable,  and  is  often  danger- 

ejus,  cum  venerit  dies  nuptiarum  Christi  et  ecclesiae,  tempore  illo  quo 
fuerint  virgines  introductae  in  thalamum  regis  aeterni.  Sed  quomodo 
ab  oculis  tuis  absterget  lachrymas,  si  pro  ejus  amore  non  gemis  et 
ploras? — Bernard,  in  Caena  Domini,  Serm.  ix. 

*  Quod  (that  the  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief)  unusquisque 
debet  etiam  de  die  hujus  vitae  suae  novissimo  formidare.  In  quo  enim 
quemqueinvenit  suus  novissimus  dies,  in  hoc  eum  comprehendet  mundi 
novissimus  dies :  quoniam  qualis  in  die  isto  quisque  moritur  talis  in  die 

illo  judicabitur Imparatum  autem  inveniet  ilia  dies,  quern 

inparatum  inveniet  suae  vitae  hujus  ultimus  dies. — August.  Ep.  cxix. 
2,3. 

Par  est  ratio  judici  rum  incertaeque  obitus  horae,  quavis  aetata,  ac  die? 
novissimi. — Benoei    id  Matt.  xxiv.  42. 


NOT  HIS  COMING  TO   INDIVIDUALS   AT  DEATH.  21 

ous,  to  make  that  the  primary  and  proper  interpretation  of 
a  passage  which  is  but  a  secondary,  though  it  may  be  a  very 
legitimate  and  even  irresistible  application  of  it. 

Second^  It  is  not  enough  that  we  believe  the  doctrines 
of  Scripture  numerically,  so  to  speak.  We  must  believe 
them  as  they  are  revealed — in  their  revealed  collocations 
and  bearings.  Implicit  submission  to  the  authority  of  God'a 
Word  obviously  includes  this.  If,  then,  Christ's  second 
appearing,  instead  of  being  full  in  the  view  of  the  Church, 
as  we  find  it  in  the  New  Testament,  is  shifted  into  the 
background,  while  other  anticipations  are  advanced  into  its 
room,  which,  though  themselves  scriptural,  do  not  occupy 
in  Scripture  the  place  which  we  assign  to  them,  are  we 
"  trembling"  at  the  authority  and  the  wisdom  of  God  in 
his  Word,  or  are  we  not  rather  "  leaning  to  our  own  un 
derstanding  ?"  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  (said 
Jesus  to  his  sorrowing  disciples) :  In  my  Father's  house 
are  many  mansions  :  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  And 
if  I  go  away" — What  then  ?  '  Ye  shall  soon  follow  me  ? 
Death  shall  shortly  bring  us  together  V  Nay  ;  but  "  If  I 
go  away,  /  will  come  again  and  receive  you  unto  mynHf ; 
that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  (John  xiv.  1-  3.) 
"  And  while  they  looked  stedfastly  toward  heaven  as  he 
went  up,  behold,  two  men  stood  by  them  in  white  apparel  ; 
which  also  said.  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  gazing 
up  into  heaven,  this  same  Jesus  which  is  taken  up  from 
you  into  heaven,  shall" — What  1  Take  you  home  soon  to 
himself,  at  death  ?  Nay,  but  shall  ■"  so  come  in  like  man- 
ner as  ye  have  seen  him  go  into  heaven."  (Acts  i.  10,  1 1.) 
And  how  know  we  that,  by  jostling  this^ event  out  of  its 
scriptural  place  in  the  expectations  of  the  Church,  we  are 
not,  in  a  great  degree,  destroying  its  character  and  power 
as  a  practical  principle  ?  Can  we  not  believe,  though  un- 
able to  trace  it,  that  God's  methods  are  ever  best ;  and  that 


22  Christ's  second  "appearing 

as  in  nature,  so  perhaps  in  revelation,  a  modification  by  ua 
of  the  divine  arrangements,  apparently  slight,  and  attended 
even  with  some  seeming  advantages,  may  be  followed  by  a 
total  and  unexpected  change  of  results,  the  opposite  of 
what  is  anticipated  and  desired  ?  So  we  fear  it  to  be  here. 
But  this  leads  to  our  last  remark  on  this  point. 

Third,  The  coming  of  Christ  to  individuals  at  death — • 
however  warrantably  we  may  speak  so,  and  whatever  pro- 
fitable considerations  it  may  suggest — is  not  fitted  for  tak- 
ing that  place  in  the  view  of  the  believer  which  Scripture 
assigns  to  the -second  advent.  This  is  a  proposition  of  equal 
interest  and  importance.  It  would  bear  to  be  established 
and  illustrated  in  detail.   A  hint  or  two,  however,  may  suffice. 

1.  The  death  of  believers,  however  changed  in  its  cha- 
racter, in  virtue  of  their  union  to  Christ,  is,  intrinsically 
considered,  not  joyous,  but  grievous — not  attractive,  but 
repulsive.  It  is  the  disruption  of  a  tie  which  the  Creator 
formed  for  perpetuity — the  unnatural  and  abhorrent  divorce 
of  parties  made  for  sweet  and  uninterrupted  fellowship. 
True,  there  is  no  curse  in  it  to  the  believer  ;  but  it  is  the 
memorial  of  the  curse,  telling  of  sin,  and  breach  of  the 
first  covenant,  and  legal  wrath.  All  the  ideas,  therefore, 
which  death,  as  such,  is  fitted  to  suggest,  even  in  connex- 
ion with  the  better  covenant,  are  of  a  humiliating  kind. 
Whatever  is  associated  with  it  of  a  joyous  nature  is  derived 
from  other  considerations,  by  which  its  intrinsic  gloomi- 
ness is,  in  the  case  of  believers,  relieved.  But  the  Re- 
deemer's second  appearing  is,  to  the  believer,  an  event  of 
unmingled  joyousness,  whether  as  respects  the  honour  of 
bis  Lord,  which  will  then  be  majestically  vindicated  before 
the  world  which  had  set  it  at  nought,  or  as  respects  hia 
own  salvation,  which  will  then  have  its  glorious  comple- 
tion. How,  then,  should  the  former  event  be  fitted  to 
awaken  feelings,  I  say  not  equally  intense,  but  even  of  the 


NOT  HIS  COMING  TO   INDIVIDUALS   AT  DEATH.  23 

same  order,  as  tlie  latter  ?  In  connexion  with  liis  second 
appearing,  the  believer  is  privileged  to  regard  his  own  death 
as  bound  up  with  the  Redeemer's  triumph,  and  a  step  to  his 
final  victory  with  Him.  But  as  a  substitute  for  it — as  being 
to  all  practical  'purposes  (as  they  say)  one  and  the  same 
thing  with  the  expectation  of  the  Redeemer's  appearing, 
this  looking  forward  to  one's  own  death  will  be  found  very 
deficient  in  practical  effect. 

2.  The  bliss  of  the  disembodied  spirits  of  the  just  is  not 
only  incomplete^  but,  in  some  sense,  prinate  2in^  fragmentary^ 
if  I  may  so  express  myself  Each  believer  enters  on  it  for 
himself  at  his  own  death.  His  spirit  is  with  Christ,  resting 
consciously  under  his  wing  from  the  warfare  of  the  flesh, 
and  tranquilly  anticipating  future  glory  :  "  He  shall  enter 
into  peace ;  they  shall  rest  in  their  beds,  each  one  walking 
in  his  uprightness."     (Isa.  Ivii.  2.) 

But  at  the  Redeemer's  appearing,  all  his  redeemed  will 
be  collected  together,  and  perfectly,  publicly,  and  simul- 
taneously glorified.  Is  it  necessary  to  point  out  the  in- 
feriority,  in  practical  power,  of  the  one  prospect  to  the 
other,  or  to  indicate  the  superior  class  of  ideas  and  feelings 
which  the  latter  is  fitted  to  generate  ? 

3.  To  put  the  expectation  of  one's  own  death  in  place  of 
the  prospect  of  Christ's  appearing,  is  to  dislocate  a  beautiful 
jointing  in  divine  truth — to  destroy  one  of  its  finest  collo- 
cations. Here  it  is,  as  expressed  by  the  apostle :  "  The 
grace  of  God  which  bringeth  salvation,  hath  appeared 
unto  all  men,  teaching  us  that,  denying  ungodliness  and 
worldly  lusts,  we  should  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly, 
in  this  present  world ;  looking  for  that  blessed  hope  and 
the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  who  gave  himself  for  us  that  he  might  re- 
deem us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself  a  pi^cu- 
liar  people,  zealous  of  good  works."    (Tit.  ii.  11-14.)    Here 


24  Christ's  second  appearing 

both  comings  of  Christ  are  brought  together  ;  the  first  in 
"grace" — the  second  in  "glory;"  the  first  "bringing  sal- 
vation"— the  second,  to  complete  the  salvation  brought. 
To  the  first  we  look  back  by  faith — to  the  second  we  look 
forward  by  hope.  In  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruit  of  the 
first,  we  anticipate  the  fulness  of  the  second.  Between 
these  two  the  apostle  here  beautifully  places  the  Christian's 
present  holy  walk.  These  are  the  two  pivots  on  which 
turns  the  Christian  life — the  two  wings  on  which  believers 
mount  up  as  eagles.  If  either  is  clipped,  the  soul's  flight 
heavenward  is  low,  feeble,  and  fitful.  This  is  no  casual 
collocation  of  truths.  It  is  a  studied,  and,  with  the 
apostle,  a  favourite  juxtaposition  of  the  two  greatest  events 
in  the  Christian  redemption,  the  first  and  the  last^  bearing 
an  intrinsic  relation  in  their  respective  objects.  "  As  it  is 
appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  but  after  tl]is  the  judg- 
ment ;  so  Christ  was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many ; 
and  unto  them  that  look  for  him  shall  he  appear  the 
second  time,  without  sin,  unto  salvation."  (Heb.  ix.  27, 
28.)*      "If   so  be  that  we  sufi"er  with  him,  that  we  may 

*  The  point  of  this  beautiful  passapje  is  missed,  I  suspect,  by  most 
readers,  as  it  certainly  is  by  many  commentators.  It  is  not  the  saint's 
solemn  anticipation  of  "death"  and  "judgment,"  as  events  common  to 
him  with  all  mankind.  It  is  the  sinner's  "  fearful  looking  for  of  judg- 
ment"— which  the  work  of  Christ  is  designed  to  dispel.  In  the  one 
verse,  "death"  and  "judgment"  are  held  up  as  the  two  great  stages  of 
the  curse  of  the  law.  In  the  other  verse,  we  have  the  corresponding  st?ges 
oi  redemption  from  the  curse,  which  Christ  accomplishes  by  his  two  ad- 
vents; at  his^rs^.  "bearing  the  sins  of  many,"  and  when  he  comes  the 
second  time,  "appearing  without  sin  unto  salvation."  "As  man  (saya 
Dr.  Owen  on  this  passage)  was  to  die  once  legally  and  penally  for  sin,  by 
the  sentence  of  the  law,  and  no  more ;  so  Christ  died,  suffered,  and  offered 
Dnce,  and  no  more,  to  bear  sin,  to  expiate  it,  and  therefore  to  take  away 
death,  so  far  as  it  was  penal.  And  as  after  death,  men  must  appear  again 
rhe  second  time  io  judgment,  to  undergo  condemnation  thereon  ;  so  after  hia 
once  offering  to  take  away  sin  and  death,  Christ  shall  appear  the  second 
time,  io  free  us  from  judgment,  and  to  bestow  on  us  eternal  salvation," 


NOT  HIS  COMING  TO  INDIVIDUALS  AT  DEATH.         25 

be  also  glorified  together."  (Rom.  viii.  17.)  And  who 
does  not  see  that  the  comfort  and  the  profit  of  this  collo- 
cation in  our  own  minds  is  as  great  as  is  the  beauty  of  it  in 
the  text  of  Scripture  ?  All  is  thus  made  to  centre  in  the 
Person  of  Christ — the  contemplations  and  the  affections 
of  the  believer  travelling  between  his  Abasement  and  his 
Exaltation,  and  finding  in  Jesus,  under  both  aspects  to- 
gether, a  completed  salvation.* 

Bengel,  with  characteristic  terseness  and  felicity,  gives  the  same 
view  in  two  lines :  Otiroi,  sic,  i.  e..  Christus  liberavit  nos  a  morte  et  ju- 
dicio;  tametsi  ut  mors,  sic  judicium,  nominetenus  reinanet. 

*  The  reader  will  find  a  similar  view  of  the  coming  of  Christ  in  Dr. 
Urwick's  interesting  work  on  the  Second  Advent,  though  on  this  impor- 
tant head  the  illustration  might  with  advantage  have  been  fuller,  in  ■ 
series  of  popular  discourses. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE     HOPE    OP    THE     ADVENT    IN    RELATION    TO    THE    QUESTION 
OF    TIME. 

We  have  seen  that  Christ's  second  coming  is  the  Church's 
"  blessed  hope."  Its  place  in  the  Christian  system,  and  in 
the  Church's  view,  is  over  against  his  first  coming,  as  its 
proper  counterpart.  As  "  once  in  the  end  of  the  world  he 
hath  appeared  to  put  away  sin,  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,'* 
so,  "  to  them  that  look  for  him,  shall  he  appear  the  second 
TIME,  without  sin  unto  salvation."  As  the  grace  of  the  one 
coming  is  received  by  faith,  so  the  glory  of  the  other  is 
apprehended  by  hope  ;  and  thus,  between  the  Cross  and  the 
Crown,  the  believer  finds  all  his  salvation  and  all  his  desire. 
With  reference  to  the  former,  his  attitude  is  that  of  broken- 
hearted sweet  recumbency  ;  with  reference  to  the  latter,  that 
of  glad  yet  humble  expectancy.  On  the  one  hand,  he  de- 
termines to  "  know  nothing  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified  ;"  on  the  other,  he  is  found  in  the  ranks  of  "  all 
them  that  love  his  appearing." 

Very  good,  says  the  pre-millennialist ;  but  the  question 
is.  With  which  theory  of  the  second  advent  does  all  this 
accord  ?  When  a  man  believes  that  Christ's  second  coming 
may  take  place  at  any  time — that  he  may  come  just  now, 
for  aught  that  we  know,  quite  as  readily  as  a  hundred  or  a 
thousand  years  hence — one  can  understand  how  he  should 
set  himself  to  "  look"  and  "  wait"  and  "  watch"  for  him. 
"  not  knowing  when  the  Mastei   of  the  house  may  come,  at 


OBJECTION EXPLANATION.  37 

even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  cock-crowing,  or  in  the  morn- 
ing." But  will  the  Church  be  brought  up  to  this  expec- 
tant attitude  by  telling  her  that  a  whole  millennium,  not 
yet  begun,  must  run  its  course  ere  Christ  appear  ?  And 
does  not  this  blunt  the  edge  of  such  texts  as  the  following : 
— "  The  day  of  the  Lord  so  cometh  as  a  thief  in  the  night" 
— "  The  Judge  standeth  at  the  door" — "  Behold,  I  come 
quickly  ?" 

"  Our  ignorance,"  says  Mr.  Bickersteth,  "  of  the  day  and 
hour  when  Christ  comes  seems  inconsistent  with  any  certain 
intervening  period  of  a  thousand  years."*  To  the  same 
purpose,  Mr.  Dalton.f  the  Duke  of  Manchester.^  and  most 
other  writers  on  the  same  side.  Mr.  H.  Bonar  admits 
the  possibility  of  longing,  of  waiting,  and  even  of  look- 
ing for  Christ's  coming,  on  the  common  view  of  it,  but 
strenuously  denies  the  possibility  of  watching  for  it  on 
that  view.^ 

That  this  is  plausible,  I  freely  admit.  In  fact,  if  there 
be  plausibility  in  the  system  at  all,  it  lies  here.  I  have  felt 
it  necessary,  therefore,  to  weigh  it  again  and  again ;  but 
at  every  fresh  examination  I  have  found  it  more  specious 
than  solid.  That  it  is  entirely  fallacious,  may  be  shown  by 
a  variety  of  considerations. 

One  remark,  however,  I  must  request  the  reader  to  bear 
in  mind  throughout  the  whole  of  this  discussion.  I  attach 
no  importance,  in  this  argument,  to  the  precise  period  of  a 
thousand  years.  It  occurs  nowhere  in  Scripture  but  in 
one  solitary  passage.  There  are  reasons  for  taking  it 
definitely  and  literally ;  but,  to  some  these  reasons  appear 

*  Guide  to  the  Prophecies,  p.  66,  seventh  edition, 
t  Lent  Lectures,  by  English  Clergymen  ("  Second  Coming,"  &c.), 
pp.  95,  96,  second  edition. 

I  Finished  Mystery,  i)p.  277-28L 
§  Prophet  "sal  Landmarks,  p.  88,  &c 


28     BEGINNING  AND  END  OF  LATTER   DAY   UNCERTAIN. 

slender.  They  think  it  means  just  a  long  indefinite  period ; 
agreeing  with  us,  however,  as  to  its  being  yet  to  come. 
Be  it  so  Wherever  I  speak  of  the  millennium,  or  "  thou- 
sand years,"  let  them  understand  their  own  "  indefinite 
period,"  or  bright  "  latter  day,"  to  precede  the  coming  of 
Christ ;  and  my  argument  will  remain  the  same.  Then, 
as  to  its  being  yet  to  come,  let  no  one  suppose  I  expect  that 
the  beginning  and  end  of  this  period  will  be  so  dearly  diS' 
cernible  as  to  leave  no  room  for  doubt  upon  any  mind. 
On  the  contrary,  I  think  there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that 
it  will  follow  the  law  of  all  Scripture  dates  in  this  respect 
— of  Daniel's  "  seventy  weeks,"  and  of  the  "  twelve  hun- 
dred and  sixty  days'^  of  Antichristian  rule.  The  begin- 
ning and  end  of  the  former  of  these  periods,  though  a  long 
past  one,  is  even  yet  a  matter  of  some  controversy,  while 
the  beginning  and  end  of  the  latter  period  is  confessedly 
unsettled.  Why,  then,  should  we  suppose  that  it  must  be 
otherwise  with  the  millennial  period  ?  If  the  first  stages 
of  it  should  be  marked  only  by  the  rising  beams  of  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness  over  the  darkness  and  disease,  the  dis- 
order and  confusion,  the  wretchedness  and  ruin,  which 
they  are  destined  to  chase  away ;  and  if  its  last  stages 
should  be  characterized  by  nothing  but  the  waning  bright- 
ness and  decaying  spirituality  of  its  religious  character — all 
being  outwardly  unchanged,  and  nothing  wanting  but  the 
animating  spirit — like  "  the  glory  of  the  Lord,"  which  took 
its  gradual  departure  from  the  first  temple,  hovering  over 
the  threshold  of  the  house,  then  going  up  from  the  midst 
of  the  city  and  resting  for  a  moment  on  the  mount  of  Olives, 
as  if  to  take  a  last  lingering  look  of  its  wonted  abode,  and 
finally  disappearing  from  the  scene,  to  make  way  for  the 
judgments  of  an  incensed  God : — if,  I  say,  the  commence- 
ment and  the  close  of  the  latter  day  should  be  thus  inten- 
tionally shrouded  in   obscurity,  and  the  same  uncertainty 


OBJECTION  TESTED  BY  FACTS — ROI.LOCK,  ETC.   29 

overhang  this  as  all  the  great  periods  of  the  divine  economy, 
would  it  not  be  worthy  of  Him  who,  in  his  ways  as  in  Him- 
self, is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever  ? 

With  this  explanation,  I  proceed  to  examine  this  new 
theory  of  "  watching"  for  Christ's  coming,  as  incompatible 
with  the  ordinary  view  of  the  second  advent.     And, 

1.  Can  anything  be  more  arbitrary  than  the  distinction 
attempted  to  be  drawn  between  longing^  waiting^  and 
looking  for  Christ,  on  the  one  hand,  and  watching  for  him, 
on  the  other?  Doubtless,  these  terms  express  distinct 
shades  of  thought  and  feeling  ;  but  the  state  of  the  soul  in 
them  all  is  so  nearly  the  same,  that  it  is  scarcely  conceiva- 
ble how  any  doctrine  that  destroys  one  of  them  should  ad- 
mit of  the  exercise  of  the  other  three.  Beyond  question, 
all  scriptural  exercises  of  heart  towards  a  coming  Redeemer 
must  stand  or  fall  together. 

2.  This  alleged  impossibility  of  watching  for  Christ's 
coming,  on  the  ordinary  view  of  it,  involves  a  serious  charge 
against  the  Christianity  of  the  major  part  of  the  Christian 
Church,  almost  from  the  age  of  the  apostles  downwards. 
An  extract  or  two  from  the  fathers  of  the  Scottish  Church, 
for  which  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  A.  Bonar,*  will  suffi- 
ciently illustrate  this  remark.  "  Few  in  Scotland,"  Mr. 
Bonar  truly  observes,  "held  the  pre-millennial  view,  but 
they  loved  the  Lord's  appearing." 

"  Why,"  says  Principal  Rollock,  "  should  not  the  hope 
of  Christ's  returning  comfort  our  souls,  and  make  them 
rejoice  ?  How  happy  is  that  man  who  earnestly  looks  and 
waits  for  the  blessed  and  glorious  coming  again  of  the  Lord 
to  judgment,  for  that  hope  shall  comfort  and  uphold  him  in 
all  his  troubles  and  distresses." 

"  0  when,"  writes  the  seraphic  Rutherford,  "  will  we 
meet  ?     0  how  long  is  it  to  the  dawning  of  the  marriage- 

♦  Redemption  Drawing  Nigh,  pp.  21,  &c. 
c2 


30  Christ's  coming  viewed  as 

day !  0  sweet  Jesus,  take  wide  steps !  O  my  Lord,  come 
over  mountains  at  one  stride  !  O  my  Blessed,  flee  as  a 
roe  or  young  hart  upon  the  mountains  of  separation.  0  if 
he  would  fold  the  heavens  together  like  an  old  cloak,  and 
shovel  time  and  days  out  of  the  way,  and  make  ready  in 
haste  the  Lamb's  wife  for  her  husband ! O  hea- 
vens, more  fast !  O  time,  run,  run,  and  hasten  the  mar- 
riage-day ;  for  love  is  tormented  with  delays  !  .  .  .  .  Look 
to  the  east :    the  day-sky  is  breaking.      Think  not  that 

Christ  loseth  time,  or  lingereth  unsuitably The 

Lord's  bride  will  be  up  or  down,  above  the  water,  swimming, 
or  under  the  water,  sinking,  until  her  lordly  and  mighty 
Redeemer  and  Husband  set  his  head  through  these  skies, 
and  come  with  his  fair  court  to  rid  all  these  pleas,  and  give 
them  the  longed-for  inheritance." 

And  shall  it  be  said  of  these  men,  that,  though  "  they 
loved  their  Lord's  appearing,"  they  could  not  possibly 
"  watch  for  it  ?" 

But  it  may  be  replied — These  worthies,  though  they 
were  not  pre-millennialists,  interposed  no  definite  millen- 
nium  between  their  own  day  and  the  day  of  Christ's 
appearing.  Whether  they  did  or  not,  I  know  not.  There 
is,  probably,  little  means  of  knowing  what  their  views 
were  of  the  latter-day  period.  But  there  is  not  a  particle 
of  evidence  that  they  had  any  such  views  of  the  iiearness 
of  Christ's  coming  as  pre-millennialists  assert  to  be  indis- 
pensable to  watching  for  it.  The  contrary,  indeed,  seems 
evident  enough  from  Butherford's  language  in  the  very 
extract  which  we  have  given.  What  else  can  be  gathered 
from  his  passionate  wish  that  the  Lord  would  "  take  wide 
steps,  come  over  mountains  at  one  stride,  fold  the  heavens 
together  like  an  old  cloak,  and  shovel  time  and  days  out 
of  the  way,"  but  that  he  looked  upon  the  actual  period  of 
Christ's  coming  as  identisal  with  the  end  of  time  itself? 


BOTH    NEAR    AND    FAR    AWAY.  31 

And  yet  we  find  him  longing,  waiting,  looking,  and 
watching  too,  for  his  Lord's  appearing,  as  if  it  had  been 
the  very  next  event  which  was  to  happen.  And  truly,  to 
him,  it  was  the  next  event ;  for  as  "  love  is  tormented  with 
delays" — to  use  his  own  expressive  language — insomuch 
that  "  one  day  seems  as  a  thousand  year$^^  so  hope,  which 
brings  near  the  Beloved  Object,  makes  "  a  thousand  years 
as  one  day?^  What,  to  them  that  love  his  appearing,  are 
falls  of  Antichrist^  and  bright  latter  days^  and  whole  mil- 
lenniums of  refreshing,  in  his  absence  %  "  Holy  Lord," 
says  Bernard  somewhere,  "  dost  thou  call  that  '  a  little 
while'  in  which  I  shall  not  see  thee  %  0  this  little  is  a 
long  little  while  !" 

Thus  the  heart  alternates  between  two  very  different  and 
seemingly  opposite  views  of  the  interval  between  its  own 
day  and  the  day  of  Christ's  appearing.  Now  it  seems 
long^  and  anon  it  seems  short.  "  The  bridegroom  tarried" 
says  the  Lord  himself,  in  the  parable  of  the  virgins. 
(Matt.  XXV.  5.)  ''  Yet  a  little  while,"  says  his  apostle, 
"  and  the  Coming  One  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry." 
(Heb.  X.  37.)  {xP''^^i°^'^°^  °^ XP"*"*')  To  faith  and  hope  it 
seems  near,  even  at  the  doors ;  to  love  and  longing  desire 
it  seems  far,  far  away  :  to  the  one  it  is  but  "  a  day,"  and 
then  he  will  be  here  ;  to  the  other  it  is  "  a  thousand  years" 
— dreary  period  !  In  the  one  case,  "  we  do  with  patience 
wait  for  it  ;"  in  the  other,  "  tormented  with  delays,"  we 
cry  out,  with  the  Psalmist,  "  But  thou,  O  Lord,  how  long  ?" 
Wilt  thou  not  shovel  Antichrist,  ay,  and  the  millennium 
too — yea,  time  and  days  together — out  of  the  way,  and 
"  set  thy  head  through  these  skies,"  that  "  so  we  may  be 
ever  with  the  Lord  !" 

To  the  above  examples  of  this  double  way  of  viewing 
the  Redeemer's  coming,  I  make  no  apology  for  adding  that 
of  one  but  lately  removed  from  the  Church  below,  whose 


32    OBJECTIONS  TESTED  BY  FACTS ROBERT  WODROW. 

mind  seemed  to  be  singularly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  while  his  pen,  on  devotional  subjects,  flowed  al- 
most as  the  oracles  of  God.  I  allude  to  Robert  Wodrow* 
On  the  subject  of  united  prayer  among  Christians,  he 
drew  up  two  Memorials  (1841  and  1842),  very  precious, 
addressed  "  To  the  children  of  God  scattered  abroad 
throughout  the  world,  with  earnest  desires  that  grace  and 
mercy  may  be  multiplied  to  them  all  through  the  know- 
ledge of  God  our  Saviour."  On  the  topics  for  united 
prayer,  having  noticed  among  other  things,  in  the  first 
Memorial,  "  The  conversion  of  God's  ancient  people  as  the 
most  remarkable  which  is  to  take  place  until  the  coming  of 
Christ,  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on  all  flesh,  the 
destruction  of  Antichrist,  the  utter  abolition  of  idolatry, 
the  universal  overthrow  of  Satan's  kingdom,  the  universal 
diffusion  of  the  gospel  and  its  blessings,"  he  then  says — 

"  Stretching  beyond  all  these  great  events  connected  w»th 
the  glory  of  the  latter  day,  believers  should  look  forward 
to  the  kingdom  of  glory  itself,  and  pray  for  the  coming  of 
that  day  when  Christ  shall  be  revealed  in  flaming  fire, 
taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  tha* 
obey  not  the  gospel,  and  when  he  shall  be  glorified  in  his 
saints,  and  admired  in  all  them  that  believe,  as  it  will  be 
then,  and  not  till  then,  that  the  divine  character  and 
government  will  be  vindicated,  the  Redeemer's  enemies 
subdued,  the  number  of  the  elect  completed,  and  their 
bodies  as  well  as  souls  redeemed  and  glorified  with  him- 
self     Hence  we  are  commanded    to   be  looking  for   and 


*  Whose  Address  to  the  Children  of  Israel,  prepared  at  the  re'iuest 
of  the  Jews'  Committee  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  adopted  by  the  jren- 
eral  Assembly  of  that  Church,  and  translated  into  nearly  all  the  (  onti 
nental,  and  some  of  the  Oriental  languages,  has  probably  never  aeer 
surpassed,  in  point  of  scriptural  character  and  unction,  by  any  hama» 
compositi  jn. 


BEARING    OF    THE    FOREGOING    FACTS.  33 

hasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God  ;  hence  it  is 
the  closing  prayer  of  the  Church,  '  Even  so,  come,  Lord 
Jesus  ;'  and  hence  it  should  be  often  the  prayer  of  be- 
lievers, individually  and  collectively,  '  Make  haste,  my 
beloved,  and  be  thou  like  a  roe  or  a  young  hart  upon  the 
mountains  of  spices.'  " 

In  the  second  Memorial  he  says — 

"  Habitually  desiring  the  coming  ef  the  Lord,  we  shall  be 
naturally  led  to  abound  in  prayer  for  the  accomplishment 
of  those  objects  which  we  have  every  reason,  from  the 
Word  of  God,  to  believe,  must  be  fulfilled  before  that  great 
final  event  takes  place.  Glorious  things  are  spoken  of  the 
state  of  the  Church  in  the  latter  day" — and  then  follows  a 
charming  description  of  its  •'  millennial  rest." 

Now,  let  the  reader  bear  in  mind  for  what  purpose  we 
have  extracted  these  passages.  Not,  certainly,  to  deter- 
mine by  human  authority  whether  Christ's  coming  is  to 
precede  or  to  follow  this  latter  day,  but  to  meet  the  bold 
assertion,  that  on  this  last  view  of  the  Redeemers  coming 
it  is  not  possible  to  watch  for  it.  Such  assertions  seem  better 
met  by  facts  than  by  arguments.  And  unless  it  is  to  be 
alleged  that  the  gifted  and  holy  men  whose  language  we 
have  quoted  did  not  understand  their  own  exercises,  the 
assertion,  I  think,  must  be  given  up  as  untenable. 

But  the  heart  of  the  fallacy  has  yet  to  be  reached.  This 
novel  theory  of  watching  is  founded,  as  I  proceed  to  show, 
on  a  very  narrow  induction  of  Scripture  passages,  and 
stands  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  a  large  and  very  important 
class  of  divine  testimonies. 

4.  It  seems  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  New  Testa,- 
ment  has  but  one  future  event  to  hold  up  to  the  Church  and 
to  the  world,  namely,  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  even  but 
one  aspect  of  that  event,  namely,  its  nearness  and  the  corT 
responding  duty  of  watching  for  it      But  nothing  can  be  n 


34       THE    EVENTS  TO  PRECEDE  THE  SECOND  ADVENT. 

greater  mistake.  We  have  seen  already  for  what  purposes 
the  New  Testament  holds  forth  the  coming  of  Christ, 
both  to  saints  and  to  sinners.  But  other  purposes  had  to 
be  served  besides  these,  which  have  drawn  forth  truths  of 
quite  another  order ;  and  if  the  one  set  of  passages,  taken  by 
themselves,  might  seem  to  imply  that  Christ  might  come 
to-morrow^  or  any  day  (as  the  phrase  is),  even  in  apostolic 
times,  there  are  whole  classes  of  passages  which  clearly 
show  that  the  reverse  of  this  was  the  mind  of  the  Spirit. 

I  refer  to  those  Scriptures  which  announce  the  work  to  be 
done^  and  the  extensive  changes  to  come  over  the  face  of  the 
Church  and  of  Society,  between  the  two  advents. 

"  All  power,"  said  the  Redeemer  as  he  was  leaving  the  world, 
"  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and 
teach,"  or  make  disciples  of  "all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  Teach- 
ing them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you  ; 
and,  lo !  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  t/ie  end  of  i/ie  world."* 
(Matt,  xxviii.  18-20.) 

Now  is  it  conceivable,  that  any  primitive  Christian  should 
persuade  himself  that  all  nations  might  be  thus  discipled, 
baptized,  and  brought  under  the  discipline  of  Christ's  laws, 
in  his  own  lifetime,  or  within  the  largest  space  of  time 
that  would  admit  of  his  watching  (according  to  this  new 
theory)  for  the  coming  of  Christ  to  wind  all  up  ? 

Again,  the  parables  regarding  the  gospel  kingdom 
manifestly  bear  in  the  same  direction.  "  The  field,"  which 
was  to  be  sown  both  with  tares  and  with  wheat,  is  "  the 
world"  ( *  Kotrfioi )  :  that  is  to  say,  a  world-wide  kingdom  is 
to  be  formed,  embracing  the  genuine  and  the  false-hearted 

*  It  makes  no  difference  to  our  present  argument,  whether  atrav  here 
be  rendered  "world"  or  "age;"  as  it  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  the 
period  or  state  of  things  denoted  by  this  v  3rd  terminates  with  the  second 
connng  of  Christ 


EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE    WORLD.  35 

subjects  of  Christ  under  one  visible  name  ;  both  are  to 
"  grow  together  until  the  harvest ;"  and  the  harvest  is 
the  end  of  the  worldj^*  when  "  the  righteous  shall  shine 
forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father."  The 
same  truth  is  taught  in  the  parable  of  the  net  cast  into  the 
sea,  that  gathered  of  every  kind  ;  and  the  same  period  is 
fixed  for  the  severance  of  the  good  from  the  bad — "  the  end 
of  the  world."  Similar  is  the  import  of  the  parable  of  the 
mustard  seed,  and  of  the  leaven — holding  forth  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus,  in  its  progressive  advancement,  till,  like  a 
tree  springing  from  the  least  of  seeds,  it  ultimately  over- 
shadows "  the  world ;"  and,  like  leaven,  working  its  way 
through  the  mass  of  human  society,  it  at  length  leavens  it 
all. 

And  could  any  intelligent  Christian  in  apostolic  times — 
while  the  gospel  had  scarce  a  footing  in  the  world,  and 
its  little  inch  of  ground  had  to  be  contested  even  unto 
blood — rise  from  the  study  of  these  parables  with  the  per- 
suasion that  the  whole  world  might  be  thus  overshadowed, 
thus  leavened,  thus  externally  subjugated  to  Christ,  and  the 
second  advent  arrive — all  in  his  own  lifetime,  or  even  in 
many  lifetimes? 

I  might  advert  here  to  those  passages  which  announce 
the  judicial  transfer  of  the  kingdom  of  God  from  the  Jews 
to  the  Gentiles,  the  whole  tenor  of  which  was  fitted  to 
teach  even  a  primitive  Christian,  that  its  duration  in  Gentile 
hands,  ere  the  Jews  should  again  be  brought  in,  would  bear 
some  proportion  to  its  duration  in  Jewish  hands,  before  the 
admission  of  the  Gentiles. 

"  The  kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken  from  you,  and  given  to  a  na- 
tion bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof."     (Matt.  xxi.  43.) 

"  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  timei 
of  the  Gentiles  he  fulfilled ."     (Luke  xxi.  24.) 

•  See  note  on  preceding  page. 


36        CALLING  OF  GENTILES INBRIN&ING  OF  JEWS. 

"  Blindness  in  part  is  happened  to  Israel,  until  the  fulness  of  tki 
Gentiles  be  come  in.  And  so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved."  (Rom. 
xi.  25,  26.) 

"They  asked  of  him,"  after  his  resurrection,  "  saying,  Lord,  wilt 
thou  at  this  time  {ev  Twxpovcc)  tivtm)  restore  again  the  kingdom 
to  Israel  And  he  said  unto  them.  It  is  not  for  you  to  know 
the  times  or  the  seasons,  which  the  Father  hath  put  in  his 
own  power.  But  ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  come  upon  you :  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both 
in  Jeruaslem,  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria^  and  unto  the 
uttermost  part  of  the  earthy     (Acts  i.  6-8.) 

The  spirit  of  this  last  passage  is  worthy  of  notice.  "While 
not  discouraging  the  hope  of  an  eventual  restoration  of  the 
kingdom  to  Israel,  in  some  sense  at  least,  he  represses  all 
expectation  of  it  in  their  own  day,  teaching  them  that,  on 
his  departure,  they  would  have  other  work  on  handj  with 
which  it  would  rather  become  them  to  take  up  their  atten- 
tion. 

I  might  refer  also  to  the  frequently  predicted  degeneracy 
to  characterize  the  maturer  periods  of  the  Church,  or 
Christianized  society. 

"In  the  latter  times  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving 
heed  to  seducing  spirits,  and  doctrines  of  devils ;  speaking 
lies  in  hypocrisy;  having  their  conscience  seared  with  a 
hot  iron ;  forbidding  to  marry,  and  commanding  to  abstain 
from  meats,  which  God  hath  created  to  be  received  with 
thanksgiving  of  them  which  believe  and  know  the  truth." 
(1  Tim.  iv.  1-3.) 

"  In  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall  come.  For  men  shall  be 
lovers  of  their  o\vn  selves,  covetous,  boasters,  proud,  blas- 
phemers, disobedient  to  parents,  unthankful,  unholy,  without 
natural  affection,  truce-breakers,  false  accusers,  incontinent, 
fierce,  despisers  of  those  that  are  good,  traitors,  heady,  high- 
minded,  lovers  of  pleasures  more  than  lovers  of  God ;  having 
a  form  of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power  thereof:  from  such 
turn  away."    (2  Tim.  iil.  1^.) 


PREDICTED    DEGENERACY.  3? 

"  There  shall  come  in  the  last  days  scoffers,  walking  after  their 
own  lusts,  and  saying,  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming '? 
for  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as  tMy  were 
from  the  beginning  of  the  creation."    (2  Pet.  iii.  3,  4.) 

I  do  not  press  this  class  of  passages,  because,  taken  bj 
themselves,  I  think  a  primitive  Christian,  seeing  the  germs 
of  this  degeneracy  even  then  in  existence,  and  "  the  mystery 
of  iniquity  already  working,"  might  not  unreasonably 
imagine  that  the  predicted  evils  might  be  developed  and 
burst  forth  in  no  long  time.  But,  taken  in  connexion  with 
other  passages,  such  as  Christ's  commission  to  Christianise 
the  world,  and  his  parabolic  intimations,  that,  in  point  of 
fact,  it  would  be  visibly  Christianised  before  his  second 
coming,  I  think  these  announcements  of  apostasy  from 
the  faith,  and  social  degeneracy,  and  contemptuous  dis- 
belief of  coming  retribution,  within  the  pale  of  Christianity, 
were  fitted  to  repress  the  expectation  of  such  a  speedy  end 
of  it  all  as  the  new  theory  demands,  in  order  to  a  possible 
watching  for  it. 

There  is  still  a  number  of  passages,  greatly  clearer  to 
the  same  effect,  of  which  one  example  may  suffice  for  all :  — 

"  And  he  shall  send  Jesus  Christ,  which  before  was  preached  unto 
you :  whom  the  heaven  must  receive  until  Live  thnes  of  resLitn- 
tion  of  all  tilings,  which  God  liath  spoken  by  the  month  of  all  hii 
holy  prophets  since  live  world  began."     (Acts  iii.  20,  21.) 

Would  any  sensible  Christian  in  apostolic  times,  though 
unable  to  tell  what  might  be  meant  by  this  "  restitution  of 
all  things,"  be  encouraged  by  it  to  expect  the  immediate  or 
very  speedy  return  of  Christ  to  the  earth  ?  Would  it  lead 
him  to  think  that  his  Lord,  though  but  just  gone^  might  be 
back  again  forthwith — that,  though  scarcely  away,  though 
the  Spirit  who  was  to  supply  his  place  while  absent  had 
scarcely  made  his  power  to  be  felt,  though  his  gospel  had 
hardly  had  time  to  get  a  footing  in  the  world,  though  tho 


38  CHRIST  IN  HEAVEN  TILL  ]l  ESTM  UTION  OF  ALL  THINGS 

heathenism  of  the  empire  had  scarcely  felt  the  blows  of 
the  "  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,"  and  the 
darkness  that  covered  the  earth  had  in  no  sensible  degree 
fled  before  the  beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness — that,  in 
this  state  of  things,  altogether  so  infantile  and  immature, 
the  Redeemer  might  nevertheless  cut  the  matter  short,  and 
surprise  both  the  Church  and  the  world  by  his  second 
coming  ?  To  me  this  seems  incredible.  And  who  will  say 
that,  in  proportion  as  one  got  light  on  this  point,  he  would 
be  incapacitated  for  watching  for  the  coming  of  Christ — that, 
just  as  he  discerned  the  true  bearing  of  such  announcements, 
his  power  to  preserve  the  watchful  attitude  would  neces- 
sarily diminish  2  What  sort  of  theory  of  "  watching"  must 
that  be  which  can  stand  only  with  confused  apprehensions 
of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit — which  required  men  to  mis- 
take the  true  scope  and  intent  of  the  divine  intimations 
regarding  Christ's  absence  in  the  heavens,  and  which,  just 
in  proportion  as  they  got  their  eyes  opened  to  the  vast 
work  which  it  was  emphatically  declared  had  to  be  done 
ere  Christ  could  return,  left  them  under  a  helpless  inability 
to  look  out  and  watch  for  their  Lord  ? 

But  it  may  be  said.  This  is  expecting  too  much  from  the 
Christians  of  early  times — as  if  they  could  have  foreseen 
that,  eighteen  centuries  after  his  departure,  the  Redeemer 
would  be  found  still  in  the  heavens.  I  answer,  No.  I 
suppose  them  to  know  nothing  of  the  future  but  what  they 
were  bound  to  learn  even  from  the  Lord's  own  words.  I 
know  well  enough  how  slow  they  were  to  receive  the  truth 
on  this  point.  Some  may  think  this  was  at  most  an  amiable 
weakness,  if  not  something  better.  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that ; 
nor  will  I  concede  that  those  who,  trembling  at  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  gathered  from  it  that  he  would  be  long  away,  loved 
him  and  his  appearing  less  than  those  who,  in  opposition  to 
it,  clung  to  their  own  dream  of  an  immediate  appearing. 


CHRIST  TO  BE  AWAY   A   LONG  TIME TO  TARRY         39 

That  the  Lord  himself  gave  no  countenance  to  this  no- 
tion of  a  speedy  return,  is  evident  from  the  parable  of  T'he 
Pounds^  which  the  evangelist  tells  us  was  spoken  expressiy 
for  the  purpose  of  putting  it  down.  "  He  added  and  spake 
a  parable,  because  he  was  nigh  to  Jerusalem,  and  because 
they  thought  that  the  kingdom  of  God  should  immediately 
appear.  He  said,  therefore,  A  certain  nobleman  went  in- 
to a  far  country,  to  receive  for  himself  a  kingdo^n,  and  to 
return."  Then  follows  an  account  of  the  trust  committed  to 
his  professed  "  servants,"  the  refusal  of  his  "  citizens"  to 
submit  to  him,  and — after  full  time  allowed  to  the  one  party 
to  submit  to  him,  and  to  the  other  to  repent  of  their  rebel- 
lion— of  his  return  to  try  and  pass  sentence  upon  both 
(Luke  xix.  11-27.)  Now,  when  I  say  that  all  this  implies 
length  of  time,  I  only  say  what  the  evangelist  expressly 
tells  us,  that  Christ  meaiit  by  this  parable  to  teach,  namely, 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  not  (as  they  dreamt)  imme- 
diately to  appear.* 

*  "The  preface  to  this  parable,"  says  Dr.  Homes,  himself  an  ardent 
pre-millennialist,  "  is  a  golden  key  to  open  its  meaning,  that  we  may  not 
rely  upon  a  mere  allegory.  Christ  spake  this  parable  '  because  he  was 
nigh  to  Jerusalem,  and  because  they  thought  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
should  immediately  appear.'  It  doth  not  deny  the  appearing  of  the 
kingdom — Christ  is  for  it;  only,  he  is  against  the  immediate  appearance 
of  it.  He  must  before  that  go  away  into  a  far  country,  viz.,  to  heaven, 
and  leave  talents  in  trust  with  his  servants,  giving  them  tiine  to  employ 
them,  and  be  so  long  absent  that  his  enemies  grow  bold  enough  to  send 
after  him  with  this  high  affront,  '  that  they  would  not  have  him  to  reign 
over  them  ;'  that  is,  some  seeming  professors  should,  by  his  long  absence, 
grow  quite  careless  of  improving  the  talents,  or  gifts  of  endowment,  to 
his  honour;  and  others,  by  his  deluy  (as  they  account  it),  should  become 
profesr^ed  enemies  against  him." — Resurrection  Revealed,  d^c,  by  Natha- 
niel Homes,  D.D.     1654.     Reprinted  1833.     Pp.  265,  266. 

"Two  false  hopes,"  says  Lisco  on  the  Parables,  "in  particular  are 
pointed  at  in  v.  11;  the  first,  that  this  kingdom  should  be  immediately, 
without  any  farther  delay,  set  up,  against  which  the  intiniation  in  the 
parable  is  directed,  that  it  should  necessarily  be  a  long  time  before  the 
return  of  the  nobleman  '  Soc—Fairbaim's  Translation.     1840.     P.  398. 


40      CHRIST  TO   BE  AWAY  A  LONG  TIME TO  TARRY. 

I  suppose  it  will  be  said  that  all  the  Lord  meant  to  cor 
rect  was  the  impression  that  the  kingdom  was  to  be  set  up 
"  forthwith"  {^Trapaxpniia)  OH  liis  reaching  Jerusalem,  at  that 
very  Passover.  Unfortunately  for  this  view,  the  correspond- 
ing parable  of  The  Talents  sets  it  completely  aside,  showing 
that  he  meant  to  go  much  farther  than  this.  There  the 
period  between  the  departure  and  the  return  of  Christ  is 
expressly  called  "a  long  time,"  (/^fii-a  ^£  ^o\vv  xp°»""',  Matt. 
XXV.  19.)*  Nay,  the  same  truth — the  very  mention  of 
which  is  regarded  by  pre-millennialists  with  such  jealousy, 
because  it  breaks  down  their  theory — is  expressly  taught  in 
the  immediately  preceding  parable  of  the  Virgins  :  "  While 
the  bridegroom  tarried  (x;po»"^o'""os)  they  all  (wise  as  well  as 
foolish)  slumbered  and  slept."  (Matt.  xxv.  5.)  Thus  the 
Lord  in  parables  intended  to  teach  incessant  watchfulness^ 
scruples  not  to  warn  his  disciples  against  expecting  his  im- 
mediate return — openly  tells  them  he  would  be  found  tar- 
T'^ing — intimates  that  he  would  be  away  a  long  time.  And 
as  the  express  object  of  these  parables  was  to  teach  watch- 
fulness .^  it  is  perfectly  plain,  that,  to  his  view,  there  was 
no  inconsistency  between  watching  for  his  return  and  be- 
lieving that  it  was  not  to  occur  very  soon  ;  and  that,  though 
the  actual  time  of  it  would  always  be  matter  of  uncertainty 
before  it  arrived,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  interval 
would  be  a  brief  one.f     But,  according  to  our  new  theory 

♦  noXwi/,  multum.  Non  est  absoluta  celeritas  adventus  Domini. — 
Bengel,  ad  Matt.  xxv.  19. 

^  ^vravda.  Seikvvjiv  ovk  oXiyov  top  ^  p  o  v  o  v  eaofievop  •ira\ii'  rov 
jieTa^v  (the  interval  between  his  depnrture  and  his  return:)  rovs  ixaQriTis 
aTrayov  rov  TrpoarSoKav  avriKU  fidXa  <pav£iadai  Tr]v  ^acriKeiav  avTov.~— 
Chrysost.  Homil.  in  Matth.  Ixxix.  (in  Gr.  Codd.  Ixxviii.)  Onthe  Parables 
of  the  Virgins  and  Talents.  He  repeats  the  same  sentiment  a  little  far- 
ther on  in  the  same  homily.  But  how  far  the  golden-mouthed  preacher 
was  from  supposing  that,  by  such  statements  about  the  Ze/ig-^/i  of  Christ's 
absence,  he  was  lulling  his  hearers  into  carnal  security,  may  be  seen 
from  such  passages  as  the  fellowing,  in  the  immediately  preceding  ho- 


THE    IMPORTUNATE    WIDOW.  41 

of  watching  these  things  are  perfectly  incompatible ;  inso- 
much that,  unless  you  can  persuade  yourself  that,  for  aught 
you  know,  the  kingdom  of  glory  may  "  immediately  ap- 
pear," after  no  "  long  time,"  and  without  any  "  tarrying" 
at  all,  you  are  incapacitated  for  watching  for  it.* 

But  I  have  not  done  with  this  point.  As  if  to  put  the 
matter  beyond  all  doubt,  the  parable  of  The  Importunate 
Widoiv  (Luke  xviii.  1-8)  proceeds  expressly  on  the  suppo- 
sition, and  carries  on  its  face  the  warning,  that  Christ's 
return  would  be  so  long  delayed  as  not  only  to  embolden 
the  scoffers  to  ask,  "  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  ?" 
but  to  wear  out  the  patience  of  all  but  "  God's  elect,"  and 
to  try  even  them  to  the  uttermost.  I  am  at  one  with  the 
pre-millennialists  in  applying  this  parable,  in  its  primary 

mily  :  ^vtcvBev  fiavBavofitv  hr  i  ovie  ;(;  po  v  t  ^c  f  avrjj  yap  (namely,  the 
sentiment,  'My  Lord  delayeth  his  coming')  ov  tov  Sccrnorov^  aWa  ms 
Tov  rrovripov  oikctov.  fi  xj/ricfioi'  Sio  Kai  eyKoXeiTai  .  .  .  Tt  ovv  friat  ra  i^rn  ; 
tXcvaerai  ev  hfi^Pf  J7  ov  npoirooKni  xai  oipa  jj  ov  yivuyaKei,  Kai  ra  ecr^ara 
avTQV  6iadnaei.  'Op3s  ttcjs  7raj/raj^;ou  tovto  TiQjtai  to  tth  ayvoias  iciKWi 
yjpriaijiovy  Kai  ravrt]  notoiu  £pay(oitovs  aiei  ]   k.  t.  \. 

*  "It  is  worthy  of  remark,"  says  Dr.  Urwick,  "that  the  only  errors 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  respecting  the  time  of  our  LorcPs  comings 
all  consist  in  dating  it  too  early.  I  shall  give  several  examples  :  \st,  The 
case  of  the  servant  represented  as  saying,  '  My  Lord  delayeth  his  coming.' 

The  servant  had  taken  up  a  wrong  impression  of  the  date  when 

his  Master  was  to  be  looked  for ;  and  as  his  Master  did  not  show  himself 
according  to  that  false  date,  the  servant,  instead  of  distrusting  his  own 
understanding,  memory,  or  calculation,  as  the  case  might  be,  acted  on 
the  assumption  that  his  Master  would  not  come  as  had  been  promised, 
and  so  acted  to  his  ruin."  (Has  nut  this  case  been  repeatedly  realized 
among  the  expectants  of  the  pre-millennial  advent?)  The  next  case 
adduced  by  Dr.  Urwick  is  that  of  the  nobleman,  on  wliich  we  have  com- 
mented above.  "  Besides  correcting  their  mistake,"  says  he,  about  an 
immediate  appearing,  "he  intimates  that  both  his  second  advent  and  the 
appearing  of  the  kingdom  of  God  were  events  then  at  a  considerable 
distance ;  and  the  circumstance  of  his  giving  the  parable  to  correct  the 
mistake  shows  it  not  io  have  been  his  will  that  they  should  look  upon 
those  events  as  at  hai,  .." — Second  Advent,  pp.  46-48. 
d3 


42  THE    THESSALONIAN    EXCITEMENT. 

historical  reference,  to  the  cry  of  the  widowed  Church  fol 
vengeance  against  her  adversaries.*  For  this  she  is  encou- 
raged to  "  pray  always,  and  not  faint ;"  for  this  she  is  fore- 
warned she  will  have  to  "  cry"  to  her  Judge  "  day  and 
night ;"  and  she  is  expressly  taught  that  he  will  "  bear  long 
with  her''  ere  he  come  to  redress  her  wrongs.  At  last  he 
will  come  and  "  avenge  her  speedily  :  Nevertheless  token  thf. 
Son  of  man  cometh  shall  he  find  faith  in  the  earth  V  that  is, 
as  the  connexion  shows,  faith  that  he  will  come  at  all.f 

Need  I  ask  now  whether  any  primitive  Christian  of 
ordinary  intelligence  could  rise  from  the  study  of  such 
explicit  and  reiterated  announcements  with  the  belief  that, 
for  aught  he  knew,  Christ  might  come  any  day^  or  within 
any  such  very  limited  period  as  that  to  which  our  theory  re- 
stricts the  possibility  of  watching  for  it  ? 

But  they  did  believe  this  (you  say),  and  the  apostle  had 
enough  to  do  to  keep  the  Thessalonians  calm  in  conse- 
quence ;  so  lifted  were  they  with  the  expectation  of  their 
Lord's  immediate  return.     (2  Thess.  ii.  1,  &c.) 

True  ;  but  is  not  this  just  to  admit  that  tlmt  Jewish  ele- 
ment— that  the  kingdom  of  God  should  immediately  appear 
— ^which  the  Lord  himself  had  sought  to  purge  out  from 
amongst  his  half-taught  disciples,  had  nevertheless  found 
its  way  into  the  infant  Church,  and  troubled,  unhinged, 
and  imperiled  it  ?  It  took  a  stirring  form  in  the  Thessa- 
lonian  Church.  Their  inexperienced  minds  and  warm 
hearts  were  plied  with  the  thrilling  proclamation,    ^'-that 

THE      DAY      OF      ChrIST      WAS      AT      HAND,"      Or     "  IMMINENT" 

(evtffrijKcv).     And  how  does  the  apostle  meet  their  expecta- 


*  Xijpa,  vidua,  quae  facile  laeditur,  nee  facile  defenditur  inter  homines. 
Talis  ecdesia  mundo  videtnr. — Bengel. 

f  Estque  Sermo  de  Adventu  ad  vindictam,  2  Thess.  i,  8,  id  est  de  ad- 
ventu  ad  novissimum  judicium  conspicuo;  ut  appellatio  Filii  hominia 
infert:  Conf.  xvii.  2i-30.— Ibid. 


HOW    TREATED    BY    THE    APOSTLE.  43 

tion  ?  He  fearlessly  crushes  it ;  gently  insinuating  that  it 
had  its  origin  rather  in  impositions  practised  upon  them  by 
false  brethren  than  in  any  spontaneous  leanings  to  it  among 
themselves.  He  "  beseeches  them  by  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ^''  which  was  dear  to  all  alike,  "  and"  the 
transporting  prospect  of  "  our  gathering  together  unto  him" 
to  give  no  heed  to  the  insinuation,  from  whatever  quarter  it 
might  come,  "  that  the  day  of  Christ  was  at  hand." 

No  such  entreaty,  we  may  safely  affirm,  would  ever  come 
from  a  pre-millennialist — at  least  of  the  modern  school. 
He  would  be  afraid  of  •'  destroying  the  possibility  of  watch- 
ing." So  much,  indeed,  is  this  warning  in  their  way,  that 
they  take  pains  to  show  that  our  version  conveys  an  erro- 
neous impression  of  the  apostle's  meaning,  and  that  the 
Thessalonian  notion  was  not  that  the  coming  of  Christ  was 
"  at  hand,"  simply,  but  that  it  was  "  imminent,"  or  mo- 
mentarily to  be  looked  for.  Be  it  so,  and  what  is  gained  ? 
Let  it  be  conceded  that  the  Thessalonians  thought  them- 
selves already  in  the  thick  of  the  events  which  were  to 
usher  in  the  second  advent :  the  question  is  not  what 
the  Thessalonians  thought  about  the  day  of  Christ,  but 
what  the  a/posth  says  in  opposition  to  their  thought.  The 
writers  I  allude  to  affirm  that  the  apostle  meant  mly  to 
deny  that  the  day  of  Christ  had  begun^  or  was  tictually 
present,  while  he  wrote — that  "  the  streaks  of  dawn"  were 
to  be  then  discerned — that  the  moment  for  his  appear- 
ing had  yet  arrived.*     But  what  unbiased  reader  would 

*  "  Some  in  Thessalonica,"  says  Mr.  A.  Bonar,  "  thought  that  the  day 
of  Christ  had  begun  :  It  is  not  so,  says  Paul ;  there  are  none  of  the 
streaks  of  dawn  yet."  (P.  134.)  "The  Thes?;ilonians,"  says  the  Duke 
of  Minchester,  "supposed  that  they  were  actually  entered  upon  the 
tribulations  of  the  last  days ;  and  the  idea  is,  that  they  should  not  be 
alarmed  as  tnough  that  day  had  begun — was  present  thenJ'^  (P.  279.) 
He  quotes,  in  support  of  this  view,  Dr.  Duffield,  an  American  pre-mil- 
lennialist.   These  esteemed  brethren  remind  me  that  thj  apostle's  word 


44  IMPORT    OF    THE    APOSTOLIC    WARNING. 

SO  understand  the  passage  ?  Does  not  the  apostle,  in  the 
following  verses,  expressly  intimate  that  a  long  and  compli- 
cated series  of  events  had  to  be  developed,  the  very  com- 
mencement of  which  was  retarded  by  an  obstacle  then  in 
being  while  he  wrote?  And  is  it  conceivable  that, 
at  the  very  time  when  he  was  announcing  this,  and  an- 
nouncing it  for  the  very  purpose  of  crushing  the  expecta- 
tion of  an  immediate  appearing,  he  should  nevertheless 
have  meant  them  to  expect  it  any  day^  or  very  speedily?* 

So  manifestly  does  this  famous  passage  in  Thessalonians 
destroy  the  modern  theory  of  watching  for  the  coming  of 
Christ,  that  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  qualify  the  theory 

{tvtaTr]K£v)  expresses  a  degree  of  imminence  beyond  that  of  the  word 
usually  rendered  "  at  hand  "  {eyyvi,  eyyi^w),  and  think  I  ought  to  have 
adverted  to  this  in  my  remarks  on  the  passage  in  the  first  edition.  May 
I  remind  them,  in  turn,  that,  in  Matt.  xxiv.  33,  this  same  word,  usually 
rendered  "at  hand,"  is  employed  by  our  Lord  himself  to  express 7Ae 
utmost  degree  of  imminence  short  of  actual  presence :  "  Know,"  says  he, 
"that  it  is  near,  even  at  the  doors"  (eyyvs,  eiri  Ovpaig-) 

*  Will  our  recent  pre-millennialists  listen  to  two  voices  from  their 
own  camp,  upon  this  point?  The  first  is  that  of  the  prince  of  pre-mil- 
lennialists and  the  most  sagacious  of  the  students  of  chronological  pro- 
phecy. "It  was  not  possible,"  says  Mede,  "the  apostles  should  expect 
the  end  of  the  world  to  be  in  their  own  time,  when  they  knew  so  many 
things  were  to  come  to  pass  before  it  as  could  not  be  fulfilled  in  a  short 
time.  As,  1.  The  desolation  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  not  till  the  seventy 
weeks  were  expired:  2.  The  Jews  to  be  carried  captives  over  all  nations, 
and  Jerusalem  to  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of 
,  the  Gentiles  should  be  fulfilled ;  3.  That  in  the  mean  time  the  Roman 
empire  must  be  ruined,  and  that  which  hindered  be  taken  out  of  the 
way ;  4.  That,  after  this  was  done,  the  Man  of  Sin  should  be  revealed, 
and  domineer  his  time  in  the  temple  and  Church  of  God.  ...  7.  That 
the  time  should  be  so  long,  that  in  the  last  days  should  come  scofrer8, 
saying,  'Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?'  How  is  it  possible  they 
should  imagine  the  day  of  doom  to  be  so  near,  when  all  these  things 

must  first  come  to  pass,  and  not  one  of  them  was  yet  fulfilled? 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  I  make  no  question  but,  even  in  the  apostles' 
times,  many  of  the  believing  Gentiles,  mistaking  the  apostles'  admo- 
nitions to  the  Jews  of  the  end  of  their  state  approaching,  thought 
the  end  of  the  whole  world,  and  the  day  of  the  Lord,  had  been  also  near  i 


DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  EVENTS    AND  PERIODS.         45 

to  some  extent.  Events,  it  is  admitted,  may  be  announced 
as  preceding  the  second  advent :  but  "  the  interposition  of 
2in  everU  is  very  different  from  the  interposition  of  a  period  : 
the  latter  seems  to  be  incompatible  with  watchfulness, 
but  not  the  former ;  especially  when  the  event  is  said  to  be 
already  in  progress,  as  is  done  by  the  apostle  when  he  says, 
*  The  mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  work.'  For  this 
no  time  is  given,  and  it  is  the  absence  of  time  that  is  the 
foundation  of  watchfulness :  It  is  the  presence  of  time  as 
an  element  that  destroys  the  possibility  of  watching ;  and 
it  is  the  absence  of  that  element  that  produces  the  watch- 
ful spirit."  * 

This   distinction,  however,   between   events   and   periods 

whom,  therefore,  St.  Paul  (2  Thess.  ii.)  beseeches  to  be  better  informed, 
because  that  day  should  not  come  until  the  apostasy  came  first,  and  the 
Man  of  Sin  were  revealed."  {Apostasy  of  the  Latter  Times,  chap.  xv. 
Works,  Book  III.) 

The  other  voice  on  this  subject  is  that  of  Bishop  Horsley,  also  a 
pre-millennialist.  "The  apostle's  expression,"  says  he,  speaking  of  the 
fourth  chapter  of  1st  Thessalonians,  "was  so  strong,  that  his  meaning 
was  mistaken,  or  as  I  rather  think,  misrepresented.  There  seems  to 
have  been  a  sect  in  the  apostolic  age,  in  which  sect,  however,  the 
apostles  themselves  were  not,  as  some  have  absurdly  maintained,  in- 
cluded; but  there  seems  to  have  been  a  sect  which  looked  for  the  resur- 
rection in  their  own  time.  Some  of  these  persons  seem  to  have  taken 
advantage  of  St.  Paul's  expressions  in  this  passage,  to  represent  him  as 
favouring  their  opinion.  This  occasioned  the  second  epistle  to  the 
Thessalonians,  in  which  the  apostle  peremptorily  decides  against  that 
doctrine,  maintaining  that  the  Man  of  Sin  is  to  be  revealed,  and  a  long 
consequence  of  events  to  run  out,  before  the  day  of  judgment  can  come  ; 
and  he  desires  that  no  expression  of  his  maybe  understood  of  its  speedy 
arrival ;  which  proves  that  whatever  he  had  said  of  the  day  of  his  coming 
as  at  hand,  was  to  be  understood  only  of  the  certainly  of  that  coming." 
(Serm.  I.)  In  a  previous  part  of  the  same  Sermon,  the  Bishop  more 
fully  develops  the  sense  in  which  he  understands  the  day  of  Christ  to 
have  been  "  at  hand  "  in  the  apostles'  days.  The  reader  will  find  this 
extracted  in  the  note  at  the  close  of  this  chapter. 

*  Mr.  H.  Bonar,  p.  91  quoted  with  approbation  by  the  Duke  of  Man- 
chester, p.  281. 

'      OP  Ti 


46         DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  EVENTS  AND  PERIODS. 

does  notliing  to  save  the  new  theory ;  for,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  events  interposed  by  the  Lord  himself  and  by  his 
apostles  before  the  second  advent,  are  such  as  no  rational 
man  in  the  apostolic  age,  duly  reflecting  upon  them,  could 
imagine  to  be  possibly  over  in  his  own  day.  To  a  primitive 
Christian,  therefore,  "the  possibility  of  watching  for 
Christ's  coming  "  was  as  effectually  "  destroyed  "  by  inter- 
posed events  as  by  interposed  periods. 

Besides,  are  not  periods  interposed  as  well  as  events  ? 
So  soon  as  the  Apocalypse  came  into  general  circulation, 
the  Church  knew  that  Antichrist's  career  would  extend 
over  a  certain  definite  period — expressed  in  the  three  forms 
of  "  days^''  "  moniks,^^  and  "  times.^^  An  attempt  is  made 
to  blunt  the  force  of  this  fact,  by  alleging  that  symbolical 
language,  and  the  shortest  periods,  were  purposely  selected, 
to  prevent  the  Church  being  lulled  into  security  by  a  plain 
disclosure  of  the  time.  It  has  not,  however,  deterred  the 
writer  whose  argument  we  are  now  examining  from  lift- 
ing the  veil,  and  intimating  that  a  definite  period  of  twelve 
hundred  and  sixty  years  was  intended  by  these  mystic  num- 
bers as  the  time  of  Antichrist's  reign  ?  He  will,  probably, 
console  himself  with  the  thought,  that,  living  in  a  day  when 
the  expiry  of  this  period  may  be  speedily  expected,  he  is  in 
no  danger  of  being  lulled  by  his  knowledge  of  the  time,  or 
hindered  by  it  from  watching  for  his  Lord's  coming  But 
did  not  others  arrive  at  the  same  conclusion  long  ago.  as  to 
these  1 260  years  of  Antichrist's  reign  ?  As  early,  at  least, 
as  the  Reformation,  this  was  becoming  the  decided  judg- 
ment of  divines ;  and  as  the  views  of  the  students  of  pro- 
phecy, after  that,  grew  more  definite,  calculations  were  ven- 
tured on  as  to  "  the  time  of  the  end,"  most  of  which  threw 
it  considerably  beyond  their  own  day.  This  remark  ap- 
plies to  some  of  the  most  eminent  pre-millennialists,  quite 
BS  much  as  to  the  other  students  of  the  prophetic  word. 


ITNAVAILTNO EARLY   CHILIASTS LACTANTIUS.        47 

Now,  my  question  is,  Did  these  good  men  and  able  divines 
aestroy  by  their  calculations  the  possibility  of  their  watching 
for  Christ  ?  Absurd  surely  it  were  to  affirm  this  ;  and 
yet  if  not,  how  worthless  is  this  whole  theory  of  watch 


mg 


?* 


It  might  strengthen  these  remarks  to  advert  to  the  view 
which  the  early  chiliasts  took  of  the  dates.  They  appear, 
for  example,  to  have  adopted  universally  the  Jewish  tradi- 
tion, that,  after  a  six  thousaTid  years'  duration  of  the  world 
there  would  be  a  sabbatical  millenary  ;  and,  as  they  iden- 
tified this  with  the  millennial  reign  of  Christ  and  his  saints, 
it  is  not  very  easy  to  see  how,  with  all  their  ignorance  of 
the  true  chronology  of  the  world,  they  could  look  for  the 
second  advent  quite  so  soon  as  the  new  theory  requires. 
One  thing  is  certain,  that  Lactantius — a  chiliast  of  the 
fourth  century — did  not  look  for  the  second  advent  sooner 
than  about  two  hundred  years  ;  and  this,  be  it  observed,  he 
gives  as  the  result  of  inquiries  into  the  subject  by  all  those 
most  skilled  in  such  matters,  f 


*  These  remarks  on  the  1260  years  do  not  apply  to  those  (such  as  the 
Duke  of  Manchester)  who  take  the  "rfays"  literally,  as  denoting  just 
three  years  and  a  half.  I  cannot  go  into  that  question  here ;  and  am 
content  to  leave  the  matter,  as  far  as  theij  are  concerned,  to  rest  upon 
the  events  interposed  before  the  second  advent,  which  I  think  quite  suf- 
ficient to  settle  it,  independently  of  the  periods. 

t  "Fortasse  nunc  quispiam  requirat,  quando  ista  quae  diximus  sint 
futura:  jam  superius  ostendi.  Completis  annorum  sex  millibus,  muta- 
tionem  ipsam  fieri  oportere:  et  jam  propinquare  ilium  summum  con- 
clusionis  extremae  diem,  de  signis,  quae  a  prophetis  dicta  sunt,  licet  nos- 
cere.  Praedixerunt  enim  signa,  quibus  consummatio  temporum  expec- 
tanda  sit  nobis  in  singulos  dies,  atque  timenda.  Quando  tamen  comple- 
atur  haec  summa,  docent  ii  qui  de  temporibus  scripserunt,  colligentes  ex 
Uteris  Sanctis,  et  ex  variis  historiis,  quantus  sit  numerus  annorum  ab  ex- 
ordio  mundi:  qui  licet  varient,  et  aliquantulum  numeri  eorum  summa 
dissentiat,  omnis  tamen  expectatio  non  amplius  quSm  ducentorum  vide- 
tur  annorum."     (Div.  Ijcstitt.  Lib.  vii.  c.  xiv. 


48    EXCITEMENT  ON   THE  SUBJECT  OF  CHRIST's  COM  ING. 

In  concluding  our  investigation  of  the  question  of  time, 
as  it  affects  the  duty  of  watching  for  Christ's  coming.  I 
would  fain  leave  on  the  reader's  mind  the  spirit  of  that 
apostolic  warning  to  the  Thessalonians  on  which  I  have 
been  animadverting.  The  apostle  does  more  than  correct 
the  error  about  the  imminency  of  the  day  of  Christ  •  he 
alludes  also  to  the  wai/  in  which  they  were  solicited  on  the 
subject,  and  the  effects  which  the  delusion  would  produce 
upon  their  minds.  He  warns  them  against  being  practised 
upon,  either,  first,  "  by  spirit" — a  pretended  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy, foretelling  the  nearness  of  the  advent  ;  or,  secondly^ 
"  by  word" — any  supposed  testimony  uttered  in  favour  of 
this  view  of  the  advent  by  him  or  other  inspired  men  ;  or, 
thirdly.  "  by  letter  as  from  us" — forged  letters  from  the 
apostle  himself,  announcing  "  that  the  day  of  Christ  was" 
chronologically  •'  at  hand."  Now,  if  the  pre-millennialists 
be  right,  if  both  their  doctrine  and  their  way  of  urging  it 
be  scriptural,  is  it  not  strange  that  designing  men,  instead 
of  teaching  the  distance,  should  have  set  themselves  sys- 
tematically to  urge  the  nearness  of  Christ's  coming — that 
they  should  have  found  their  interest  to  lie  so  much  in  pois- 
sessing  the  Church  with  the  belief  of  Christ's  nearness,  as 
to  lay  false  prophecy,  pretended  apostolic  discourses,  and 
forged  letters  all  under  contribution,  to  give  currency  and 
weight  to  this  view  of  the  advent  ?  It  would  be  an  inte- 
resting inquiry,  what  such  parties  could  gain  by  the  recep- 
tion of  that  opinion?  Perhaps  the  history  of  religious 
delusions  would  throw  some  light  on  this  question.  I  think 
it  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  some  of  the  prime 
delusions  to  which  powerful  but  enthusiastic  and  feverish 
minds  have  given  birth,  have  been  associated  with  the  very 
expectation  to  which  the  apostle  refers,  and  have  derived 
from  that  expectation  a  pabulum  which  has  rallied  them 
when    otherwise    languishing,    and    without    which    they 


ITS    EVILS. 


49 


would  neither  have  had  the  attractions  which  invested 
them  while  they  lived,  nor  have  been  kept  so  long  from 
sinking  into  the  merited  oblivion  which  at  length  they 
have  found.  Whether  it  was  some  perception  of  this  thc'it 
•  filled  the  apostle  with  such  alarm  at  the  notion  in  question, 
and  such  anxiety  to  dislodge  it,  we  shall  not  affirm.  But 
his  beseeching  tone,  the  particularity  with  which  he  notices 
it,  the  systematic  way  in  which  he  sets  himself  to  meet  it, 
and  the  singularly  ample  detail  with  which  he  lays  out  the 
scheme  of  events  that  would  throw  the  advent  into  the  dis- 
tant future — all  show  that  he  saw  some  peculiar  evils  in 
the  womb  of  that  notion,  and  contemplated  with  concern 
and  grief  its  possible  progress  in  the  church.  Of  what 
sort  these  evils  would  be,  we  have  a  hint  given  us  in  the 
two  pregnant  words  by  which  he  describes  the  effects  of 
the  notion  upon  those  who  give  heed  to  it.  He  beseeches 
them  not  to  be  "  soon,"  or  quickly,  as  by  sudden  impulse^ 
"  shaken  in  mind^^  (<raXc«9>7vat) — agitated — disturbed  ;  or  to 
be  "  troubled^^  (^poetaOai — as  one  is  on  "  hearing  of  wars  and 
rumours  of  wars,"  Matt.  xxiv.  6,  Gr.),  by  the  assertion, 
"  that  the  day  of  Christ  was  at  hand."  The  thing  pointed  >j..^ 
at  is  such  an  arrestment  of  the  mind  as  tends  to  unnerve 
it  ;  a  feverish  excitement,  which  tends  to  throw  the  mind 
off  its  balance,  and  so  far  unfit  it  for  the  duties  of  life — as 
in  the  rumours  of  wars  of  which  the  parallel  passage  makes 
mention — the  very  opposite  of  that  tranquil  and  bright 
expectancy  which  realizes  the  certainty  rather  than  the 
chronology  of  the  Lord's  coming.  And  I  would  appeal  to 
the  whole  history  of  pre-millennialism,  whether  this  fever^ 
ish  excitability  has,  or  has  not,  been  found  a  prevailing 
element,  and  the  parent  of  not  a  little  that  is  erratic  both 
in  doctrine  and  in  practice. 

Thus   have   I  weighed  all   that  has  been  advanced  to 


50      DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  FEVERISH  EXPECTATION 

prove  the  impossibility  of  watching  for  Christ's  coming  on 
the  common  view  of  it,  or  rather  on  any  view  of  it  which 
does  not  admit  of  our  expecting  it  almost  any  moment.  I 
have  done  so  with  a  minuteness  and  at  a  length  which,  if 
the  intrinsic  force  of  the  objection  scarcely  demanded,  the 
stress  laid  upon  it  by  the  most  recent  pre-millennialistsi 
and  its  apparent  plausibility  may  well  excuse.  I  think  I 
have  shown  it  to  be  entirely  fallacious  ;  and  not  only  sOj 
but  that  it  is  the  very  notion  which  the  apostle  charac- 
terises as  feverish,  and  sets  himself  to  crush,  as  usurping 
the  place  of  the  tranquil  and  truly  quickening  expectation 
of  "  our"  simultaneous  "  gathering  together  unto  Him," 
at  his  glorious  appearing.  It  is  high  time  that  the 
immense  difference  between  these  two  expectations  should 
be  brought  out  and  realized.  Till  that  be  done,  one  can 
scarcely  obtain  a  hearing  with  some  ardent  minds.  They 
are  so  afraid  of  being  thrown  off  their  watch  for  the  coming 
of  Christ,  that  unless  they  think  every  thing  ripe  and  ready 
for  his  coming  to-morrow^  they  do  not  see  how  they  can 
be  kept  in  the  scriptural  attitude  of  "  looking  for  him." 
Having  exposed  the  fallacy  on  which  this  is  founded,  we 
shall  no  more  be  borne  down  by  the  question.  How  the 
common  view  can  possibly  stand  with  the  Scriptural  pro- 
minence of  the  Lord's  coming,  and  the  required  watchful- 
ness of  the  church  in  the  view  of  it  ?  Holding  that  to  be 
a  settled  point,  we  shall  refuse  to  be  again  crossed  in  the 
open  field  of  Scriptural  inquiry.  In  point  of  chronology^ 
"  the  day  of  Christ  was"  not  "  at  hand"  in  Paul's  time, 
and  he  was  positively  fearful  lest  it  should  be  thought 
that  it  was.  Some  day,  of  course,  it  will  be  chronologi- 
cally "  at  hand  ;"  but,  as  this  involves  a  question  of  dates 
and  times — as  to  which  men  are  liable  to  mistake,  and 
some  in  the  primitive  church  did  mistake,  and  had  to  be 
told  explicitly  that  they  were  under  a  delusion — the  apostlo 


AND  THE  PATIENCE  OF  HOPE.  51 

would  have  us  not  mix  up  with  the  great  and  stirring 
certainties  of  the  Lord's  impending  advent  any  specula- 
tions, however  lawful  or  even  laudable  in  their  own  place, 
about  the  chronological  nearness  of  it.  If  it  was  "  at 
hand"  eighteen  centuries  ago — if,  when  the  beloved  dis- 
ciple was  in  rapt  communication  with  him  at  Patmos, 
Jesus  could  greet  him  with  the  glad  announcement, 
"  Behold  I  come  quickly'*'' — and  no  deception — faith  can 
now,  'precisely  as  then,  echo  that  disciple's  sweet  response, 
"  Amen  :  Even  so,  come.  Lord  Jesus."  For  faith  lays 
hold  not  on  chronological  dates  or  arithmetical  calculations 
— useful  though  these  are  in  their  own  place — but  on  "  the 
Strength  of  Israel,  who  will  not  lie,"  as  he  speaks  in  the 
promises  of  his  blessed  word.  What  faith  believes,  hope 
brings  near.  To  the  hope  of  the  believer,  even  as  to  the 
Lord  himself,  "  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day."  Though 
chronologically  far  off,  if  so  it  should  be  found — no  matter. 
Faith  sees  him  coming  "  leaping  upon  the  mountains  and 
skipping  upon  the  hills."  And  neither,  on  the  one  hand, 
in  the  spirit  of  sloth  and  carnality,  which  says,  "  My  Lord 
delayeth  his  coming,"  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  spirit 
of  fanatical  and  excited  expectation  as  to  a  present  appear- 
ance ;  but  in  that  sublime  state  of  mind  which  the  apostle 
calls  "  the  patience  of  hope,"  it  is  the  privilege  of  faith 
to  say — alike  when  chronologically  far  off  and  chronologi- 
cally near,  and  as  it  were  in  holy  defiance  of  mere  dates, 
because  ready  for  them  all  alike — "  Make  haste,  my 
Beloved,  and  be  thou  like  to  a  roe  or  to  a  young  hart 
upon  the  mountains  of  spices  !"  Song,  viii.  14.* 

*  '*  St.  Peter,"  says  Bishop  Hobsley,  "  tells  us,  in  his  second  epistle, 
that  the  terms  '  soon '  and  '  late '  are  to  be  very  differently  understood, 
when  applied  to  the  great  operations  of  Providence  and  to  the  ordinary 
occurrences  of  human  life.  '  The  Lord,'  says  he,  is  not  slack  concerning 
his  promise,  as  some  men  count  slackness.    One  day  is  with  the  Lord  ai 


62  THE    PATIENCE    OF    HOPE. 

a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day.'  *  Soon'  and  'late* 
are  words  whereby  a  comparison  is  rather  intended  of  the  mutual  pro- 
portion of  different  intervals  of  time  than  the  magnitude  of  any  one  by 
itself  defined ;  and  the  same  thing  may  be  said  to  be  coming  either  soon 
or  late,  according  as  the  distance  of  it  is  compared  with  a  longer  or 
shorter  period  of  duration.  Thus,  although  the  day  of  judgment  was 
removed  undoubtedly  by  an  interval  of  many  ages  from  the  age  of  the 
apostles,  yet  it  might  in  their  days  be  said  to  be  at  hand,  if  its  distance 
from  them  was  but  a  small  part  of  its  original  distance  from  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  ;  that  is,  if  its  distance  then  was  but  a  small  part  of 
the  whole  period  of  the  world's  existence,  which  is  the  standard  in  refer- 
ence to  which,  so  long  as  the  world  shall  last,  all  other  portions  of  time 
may  be  oy  us  most  properly  denominated  long  or  short.  There  is  again 
another  use  of  the  words  'soon'  and  'late,'  whereby  any  portion  of  time, 
taken  singly,  is  understood  to  be  compared,  not  with  any  other,  but 
with  the  number  of  events  that  are  to  come  to  pass  in  it  in  natural  con- 
sequence and  succession.  If  the  events  are  few  in  proportion  to  the 
time,  the  succession  must  be  slow,  and  the  time  may  be  called  long;  if 
they  are  many,  the  succession  must  be  quick,  and  the  time  may  be  called 
short,  in  respect  of  the  number  of  events,  whatever  be  the  absolute 
extent  of  it.  It  seems  to  be  in  this  sense  that  expressions,  denoting 
speediness  of  event,  are  applied  by  the  sacred  writers  to  our  Lord's 
coming.  In  the  days  of  Messiah  the  Prince,  in  the  interval  between 
our  Lord's  ascension  and  his  coming  again  to  judgment,  the  world  was 
to  be  gradually  prepared  and  ripened  for  its  end.  The  apostles  were  to 
carry  the  tidings  of  salvation  to  the  extremities  of  the  earth:  They  were 
to  be  brought  before  kings  and  rulers,  and  to  water  the  new- planted 
churches  with  their  blood.  Vengeance  was  to  be  executed  on  the  unbe- 
lieving Jews,  by  the  destruction  of  their  city,  and  the  dispersion  of  their 
nation.  The  Pagan  idolatry  was  to  be  extirpated, — the  Man  of  Sin  to  be 
revealed.  Jerusalem  is  yet  to  be  trodden  down.  The  remnant  of  Israel 
is  to  be  brought  back, — the  elect  of  God  to  be  gathered  from  the  four 
winds  of  heaven.  And  when  the  apostles  speak  of  that  event  as  at 
hand  which  is  to  close  this  great  scheme  of  Providence — a  scheme  in  its 
parts  so  extensive  and  so  various — they  mean  to  intimate  how  busily  the 
great  work  is  going  on,  and  with  what  conjidence,  from  what  they  saw 
accomplished  in  their  own  days,  the  first  Christians  might  expect  in  dut 
time  theproTnised  consummation." — (Serm.  I.) 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THI     CHURCH,    DR    MYSTICAL    BODY    OF    CHRIST,    COMPLETE   At 
HIS    COMING. 

Our  preliminary  inquiries  being  now  concluded,  the  way 
is  open  for  bringing  out  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  on  the  great 
question  at  issue,  namely,  Whether  the  fleshly  state  at  the 
second  advent,  instead  of  coming  to  an  end,  will  only  be 
then  re-constituted  and  inaugurated  as  one  of  the  depart- 
ments of  a  millennial  kingdom  ; — whether,  after  one  por- 
tion of  Christ's  people  have  af)peared  with  him  in  glory, 
for  ever  beyond  the  experience  of  imperfection  and  the 
reach  of  evil,  another  portion  of  them  will  be  left  below 
for  a  thousand  years  in  their  mortal  bodies,  subject  to  all 
the  imperfections  of  the  life  of  faith  and  the  state  of  grace^ 
as  contradistinguished  from  the  glory  of  the  risen  and 
changed  saints.  The  Scripture  evidence  against  this  theory 
I  propose  to  arrange  under  a  series  of  propositions,  the 
first  of  which  will  occupy  the  present  chapter. 

PROPOSITION  FIRST: 

THE    CHURCH    WILL    BE    ABSOLUTELY    COMPLETE    AT     CHRIST'S 
COMING. 

If  this  can  be  established,  the  whole  system  falls  to  the 
ground.     If  all  that  are  to  be  saved  will  be  brought  in  be- 
fore Christ  comes,  of  course  there  can  be  none  to  come  in 
e2 


54       "TH£>-    THAT    ARE    CHRIST's    AT    HIS    COMING." 

after  his  advent,  and  in  that  case  the  lower  department  of 
the  expected  kingdom  disappears. 

The  difficulty  here  is  not  to  find  proof  of  the  point,  but 
any  thing  like  evidence  to  the  contrary.  No  plain  reader 
of  the  Bible  ever  doubts  that  the  Church  will  be  completed 
ere  Christ  comes ;  not  a  few  even  of  the  pre-millennialists 
themselves  have  been  constrained  to  admit  it — with  what 
effect  upon  the  sobriety  of  their  own  views  we  shall  by  and 
by  see ;  and  even  those  who  deny  it  give  evidence  of  the 
extreme  weakness  of  their  ground,  and  virtually  concede 
the  point,  by  admitting  that  "  the  Bride"  of  Christ  will  be 
complete,  though  they  contend  that  the  whole  number  of 
the  saved  (whom  they  distinguish  from  "  the  Bride")  will 
not. 

The  following  passages  are  quite  decisive : — 

1  Cor.  XV.  23.     "But  each  party,  (l/caaros  Je)  in  his  own  order: 
Christ  the  first-fruits ;  afterward  they  that  are  Christ's  at  hi.s 

COMING." 

Any  one  who  even  glances  at  this  sublime  chapter  will 
Bee,  that  the  burden  of  it  is  the  resurrection  of  believers 
in  general — of  "them  that  are  Christ's,"  considered  as 
the  second  Adam.  As  their  death  is  deduced  from  their 
federal  relation  to  the  first  Adam,  so  their  resurrection  is 
argued  from  their  federal  connection  with  the  second. 
"  As  in  Adam  (they)  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  (they) 
all  be  made  alive."*  And  it  is  immediately  after  this 
that  the  apostle  says,  "But  each  (party)  in  his  own 
order" — that  is,  the  federal  Head  and  those  federally  re- 


*  So  1  incline  to  understand  the  words,  the  resurrection  of  believers 
being  the  one  only  case  to  which  the  apostle  speaks  throughout  the 
chapter.  But  however  this  be,  my  argument  from  the  passage  will 
remain  the  same,  provided  it  be  admitted  that  the  party  or  parties  fede- 
rally related  to  the  first  and  second  Adams  are  discoursed  of  as  a  wAo/e, 
and  not  in  fragmentary  portions  or  classes. 


lated  to  him — "  Christ  the  first-fruits  ;  afterward  they  that 
are  Christ's  (the  full  harvest  of  them)  at  his  coming." 

Can  any  thing  be  more  decisive  than  this  ?  What  com- 
mentator explains  it  otherwise  ?*  What  unbiased  reader 
'^ver  understood  it  otherwise  ?  Is  it  not,  then,  a  very 
bold  liberty  with  the  Word  of  God  to  say,  that  only  a 
fractional  fart  of  "  them  are  Christ's"  are  here  spoken 
of  ? — that  it  means  only  such  of  them  as  shall  have  lived 
before  the    millennium? — that   there  will  be   millions  of 


*  Nihil,  says  Luther  on  this  verse,  de  private  resurrectione  agitur, 
quomodo  unus  atque  alter  a  tnortuis  surrexerit,  sed  dt  communi  v^surrec- 

tione,  deque  iilius  caussa  et  capite,  quod  est  Christus Ipse  enim 

sua  hora  surrexit,  ita  nos  quoque,  ubi  hora  nostra  venerit,  quoque  resur- 
gemus  et  ipsum  sequemur.  Neque  enim  ante  nos  excitare  statuit,  quam 
omnes  simul  quotquot  ipsius  sumits  congregari  fueHmtLS.  .  .  .  Hoc  enim 
series  et  ordo  postulant,  ut  ipse  primus  sit,  qui  strata  via  fores  (quod 
dicitur)  aperiret  et  immortalitatem  apportaret :  Deinde  omnia  sua  mem- 
bra ordine  congregaret,  quibus  resurrectio  ab  ceterno  destinata  est,  ut  uno 
die  omnes  Christiani  simul  (that  is,  as  the  connexion  shows,  all  Christ's 
members,  eternally  ordained  to  life  and  resurrection)  in  lucem  prodirent 

quern  ipse  ordinavit,  atque  ita  cum  eo  perpetuo  viverent Ita 

Christus  in  suo,  et  nos  in  nostro  ordine  manemus Neque 

enim  clanculum  aut  in  angulo  ista  agentur,  ut  hie  unus  alibi  alius  resur- 
gat,  sed  propalam,  universo  mundo  inspectante,  morte,  peccato,  et  omni- 
bus acerbitatibus  juxta  obolitis,  et  praeter  vitam  et  gaudium  perenne 
nihil  erit  reliqui. —^narr.  in  xv.  cap.  i.  Cor. 

Quemadmodum,  says  Calvin,  in  primitiis,  totius  anni  proventus  con- 
secrabatur,  ita  vis  resurrectionis  Christi  ad  nos  omnes  difFunditur.  .... 
Christus,  cujus  officium  est  nobis  restituere  quae  in  Adam  perdidimus, 
nobis  vitae  causa  est ;   ejusque  resurrectio  hypostasis  et  pignus  est  nos- 

trae Satis  sit  nobis,  quod  nunc  in  Christo   habemus  primitias : 

nobis  autem  adventus  ejus  tempus  erit  ad  resurgendum. 

Paulus,  says  Bengel,  who  held  in  some  things  with  the  pre-millennial- 
ists,  loquitur  hie  de  piis,  quorum  airap^ri,  primitiw,  Christus  est ;  atque 
hi,  ut  in  Adamo  omnes  moriuntur,  sic  etiam  in  Christo  omnes  vivica- 
buntur. — 01  rov  Xpto-row,  qui  sunt  Christi:  Suave  polyptoton,  Xpioroi, 
\fnaTov.  Christiani  sunt  quasi  appendix  tijj  anap^is,  primitiarum. — 
Ey  Tij  irapovaia  avrov,  in  adventu  ejus:  Tum  erit  ordo  Christianorum,  ] 
Thess.  iv.  16.     Non  alii  post  alios  resurgent  illo  tempore. 


50       '*THEY    THAT    ARE    CHRIST's    AT    HIS    COMING." 

"  them  that  are  Christ's,"  that  will  not  be  "  made  alive' 
(in  the  sense  of  resurrection  or  instantaneous  transforma- 
tion) "  at  his  coming,"  but  remain  in  their  mortal  and 
unglorified  state  upon  earth  for  at  least  a  thousand  years 
after  "  his  coming"  ?  There  may,  for  aught  that  this  pas- 
sage says,  be  mortal  men  out  of  Christy  living  upon  earth 
after  he  comes — we  shall  speak  to  that  by  and  by — but  in 
Christ  there  cannot  be  one.  For  here  we  find  the  whole 
federal  offspring  of  the  second  Adam,  made  alive  together 
— at  his  coming.  As  surely  as  "  Christ,  the  first-fruits" 
of  his  covenanted  people,  '•  was  made  alive  in  his  order,  so 
surely  shall  "  they  that  are  Christ's  be  made  alive  in  their 
order — at  {sy  )  his  coming."* 

*  If  any  thing  could  add  to  the  strength  of  the  above  argument,  it 
would  be  the  replies  that  have  been  given  to  it  as  it  appeared  in  my  first 
edition. 

Mr.  Bickerstkth's  statement,  which  is  not  very  clear,  amounts  to 
this,  that  nothing  is  here  said  of  those  living  '•  afler  the  advent.^'  Very 
true,  because  there  vrill  be  none.  Mr.  B.  says,  1  Cor.  xv.  23  is  '•  gene- 
ral." So  it  is,  and  it  is  precisely  on  this  that  I  found.  It  makes  no 
separation  of  "  them  that  are  Christ's"  from  each  other — it  embraces  all 
that  federally  belong  to  the  second  Adam  under  one  brief  denomination, 
Christ's,  and  quickens  them,  not  in  parcels,  hut  together,  "at  his  coming." 
— (Divine  Warning,  Fourth  Edition,  p.  312.) 

Mr.  A.  BoNAB.  "  There  is  surely  nothing  in  1  Cor.  xv.  23,  opposed  to 
our  view.  The  scope  of  the  chapter  does  not  deal  in  the  number  of  saints, 
as  Mr,  B,  would  hint,  but  simply  in  the  mode  and  principle  of  the  resur- 
rection,"— {Redemption,  p.  130.)  That  this  chapter  deals  in  the  number 
of  saints,  I  never  hinted  nor  imagined.  The  reality  of  their  resurrection 
is  the  main  theme  of  the  chapter.  In  handling  tiiis,  the  apostle  opens 
up  "  the  mode  and  principle  of  their  resurrection,"  namely,  their  federal 
oneness  with  Christ  as  the  second  Adam ;  and,  in  expatiating  on  this 
great  topic,  he  incidentally  announces  that  each  has  "  his  own  order  "  of 
rising — the  head  and  those  in  union  with  him-,  and  that  the  time  of  the 
latter  is  "at  his  coming."  What  has  Mr,  B,  advanced  to  show  that  this 
ought  not  to  be  taken  absolutely,  for  the  whole  body  of  those  in  covenant- 
union  with  Christ  ?     Nothing. 

The  Duke  of  Manchester.  "They  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming, 
we  say,  must  be  limited  to  those  of  Christ  who  shall  have  died  l)efore 


PRESENTATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  AT  HIS  COMING.       57 

The  next  passage  I  have  to  adduce  in  proof  of  the  com- 
pleteness of  the  Church  at  Christ's  coming,  is 

Eph.  V.  25-27.  "  Christ  also  loved  the  Church,  and  gave  him- 
self for  it ;  that  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with  the 
washing  of  water  by  the  word;  that  he  might  present  it 
to  himself  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle, 
or  any  such  thing ;  but  that  it  should  be  holy,  and  without 
blemish  » 

It  is  impossible  to  doubt  what  "  Church"  is  here  meant, 
for  it  is  defined  by  three  bright  unmistakeable  marks  within 
the  bosom  of  the  passage  itself  It  is  "  the  Church  which 
Christ  loved"  from  everlasting ;  it  is  "  the  Church  for 
which  he  gave  himself"  in  the  fulness  of  time;  it  is  "the 
Church  which  he  is  now  sanctifying  and  cleansing  by  the 
word,"  as  "  with  the  washing  of  water  :" — It  is  this  Church, 
even  the  whole  loved,  ransomed,  and  purified  company, 
which  Christ  will  "  present  to  himself  a  glorious  Church." 
When  ?  Clearly  at  his  coming.  But  should  any  hesitate 
about  this,  I  will  put  it  beyond   doubt   by  comparing   it 

that  time;  excluding  those  of  Clirist  who  shall  be  alive  at  that  time,  aa 
also  the  people  of  Israel,  who  will  not  be  Christ's  until  his  coming,  and 
the  nations  who  shall  join  themselves  to  the  Lord  alter  he  shall  have 
come.  This,  it  will  be  observed,  is  the  obvious  sense,  and  is  no  depart- 
ure from  the  literal  meaning." — {F'mislied  Mi/stenj,  p.  283.)  This  just 
means  that,  provided  we  know  from  othej-  passages  that  there  will  be 
saints  living  in  the  flesh  after  the  second  advent,  we  must  (to  make 
Sc-ipture  consistent  with  itself)  limit  "them  that  are  Christ's"  in  this 
passage,  and  who  are  to  be  made  alive  at  his  coming,  to  such  of  them  as 
have  lived  before  that  time.  But  I  am  showing  that  the  whole  scope  of 
this  chapter,  and  particularly  of  the  verse  I  have  been  dwelling  on,  em- 
braces in  one  federal  company  all  that  are  or  ever  shall  be  Chrlsfs.  and 
makes  them  simultaneously  alive  at  the  coming  of  their  Head.  His  Grace 
never  touches  that  part  of  the  argument. 

I  leave  this,  my  first  passage,  then,  to  speak  for  itself,  satisfied  that  its 
testimony  to  the  completeness  of  the  Church,  or  the  redeemed  of  the 
Lord,  at  his  coming,  is  irrefragable. 


58         PRESENTATION    OF    THE    CHURCH    TO    CHRIST 

with  two  or  three  passages,  in  which  the  same  delightful 
truth  is  expressed,  and  nearly  in  the  same  terms. 

2  Thess.  i.  10.     "  He  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and 
to  be  admired  in  all  them  that  believe — in  that  day." 

The  party  in  this  passage  is  the  same  as  in  the  former ; 
there  it  is  "the  Church,"  loved,  purchased,  and  purified 
from  every  stain  ;  here  it  is  "  his  saints" — "  all  them  that 
believe."  The  purpose  in  view,  too,  is  in  both  passages 
the  same.  In  the  former  passage  it  is  to  present  it  to  him- 
self    "  a    glorious    Church"    ('"a   Jrapaorijajj   avTtiv    eavTO}  evSo^ov\ 

Calvin  takes  the  allusion  to  be  to  the  bridal  beauty  in 
which  she  will  appear  before  him.*  So  Bengel.f  And 
as  this  same  apostle  says  he  had  '•  espoused "  the  Corin- 
thians "  to  one  Husband,  that  he  might  present  them  as  a 

chaste    virgin     to    Christ"      hrapOevov    ayvriv   napaaTtjaai  rw  Xptorw, 

2  Cor.  xi.  2),  there  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think,  that  they 
are  correct.  And  does  not  the  other  passage  express  the 
same  sublime  purpose  with  only  a  slight  diversity  of  con- 
ception— "  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all 
them  that  believe" — to  be  greeted  with  "  the  admiration" 
and  get  "  the  glory"  which  is  his  due,  when  beheld  by 
the  side  of  his  spotless  and  resplendent  Church,  as  its 
Life,  Head,  and  Husband?  Well,  and  when  is  this? 
Why,  this  shall  be  the  very  purpose  of  his  advent.  "  He 
shall  come!^  to  receive  this  "  glory  in  his  saints,"  this  "  ad- 
miration in  all  them  that  believe — in  that  day.''''  This 
is  decisive.     As  it  determines    the   time   of   presentation, 

♦  Hanc  quidem  primum  sub  figura  describit,  quae  argumento  conveni- 
ebat.  Ut  sit  trpeciosa,  inquit.  Nam  sicuti  formae  elegantia  in  uxore 
causa  est  amoris,  ita  Christus  ecclesiam,  Sponsam  suam,  ornat  sancti- 
tate,  ut  sit  hoc  benevolentiae  pignus. 

f  Iva  TTapaffTntrr]  lavTw,  ut  sisteret  sibi  ipsi :  tanquam  Sponso — KvSo^iv^ 
gloriosam :  Ex  amore  Christi  debemus  haurire  BBStimationem  sanctifica* 
tionis.    Q,uae  Sponsa  contemnit  ornatum  a  Sponso  oblatum  1 


AT    HIS    COMING.  59 

BO  equally  the  party  presented,  by  definitions  not  to  be  mis- 
understood.* 

To  the  same  effect  Jude  says — 

"Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  keep  you  from  falling,  and  to 
present  you  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory  with 

exceeding  joy,"  &C.      (Jude  24,  arnaai  Karcvoimov  tth  io^m  avTOD 
tv  aya'yKiaaci.') 

*  Mr.  Bickersteth  and  the  Duke  of  Manchester  admit  that  the  time 
of  presentation,  in  the  former  of  these  passages,  is  the  second  advent, 
but  distinguish  between  "the  Bride"  to  be  then  presented  to  Christ,  and 
the  whole  number  of  the  saved.  In  this  view,  Mr.  Bickersteth  says,  the 
passage  "implies  just  the  reverse  to  the  objection;  for  when  do  the 
Bride  and  Bridegroom  exclude  friends,  or  companions,  or  servants? 
The  nations  of  the  saved  are  distinguished  and  contrasted  with  the 
Bride"  (p.  312.)  "Mr.  Brown  (says  the  Duke  of  Manchester),  I  appre- 
hend, supposes  that  every  individual  who  shall  be  saved,  or  who  shall 
derive  any  benefit  ('accompanying  salvation')  from  the  work  of  Christ 
during  all  the  different  dispensations,  from  the  days  of  Abel  down  to  the 
last  soul  who  shall  be  brought  into  the  fold,  will  form  part  of '  the  Bride, 
the  Lamb's  wife,'  one  of  the  mystical  body  of  Christ.  I  do  not  think 
that  either  the  language  of  Scripture,  or  the  character  of  the  dispensa- 
tions is  in  accordance  with  this  idea,"  (p.  284).  I  shall  come  by  and  by 
to  (bis  imaginary  distinction  between  the  Bride  and  others  belonging  to 
Christ.  AH  I  wish  to  notice  here  is  the  admission  of  these  brethren, 
that  the  tiTue  of  'presentation  is  the  coming  of  Christ. 

Mr.  A.  Bonar  differs  doubly  from  them.  He  concedes  to  us  that  the 
party  to  be  pre.sented  embraces  all  the  redeemed;  but  he  denies  that  the 
second  advent  is  the  time  of  presentation.  "  The  idea  of  the  passage  is, 
that  the,^naZ  issue  of  his  dealings  with  this  Church  shall  be  his  present- 
ing to  himself  every  member  of  it  holy  and  without  blemish,  whether 
these  be  saints  of  Patriarchal,  Jewish,  Gentile,  or  Millennial  times. 
There  is  not  a  word  here  as  to  the  time  of  this  presentation,  so  that  no- 
thing can  be  proved  by  it,"  (pp.  130,  131.)  I  shall  leave  the  reader  to 
judge,  whether  the  time  of  the  Church's  glorious  presentation  to  Christ, 
as  here  announced,  be  not  that  of  his  second  coming,  when  he  has  read 
what  I  have  said  on  it  above. 

On  the  other  passage  (2  Thess.  i.  lO),  Mr.  Bickersteth  informs  us,  that 
the  best  copies  read  "all  them  who  have  believed,"  (tois  iriarevaaariv) 
adding  that  "it  is  thus  expressly  retrospective,'^  or  meant  of  those  who 
believe  before  the  advent.  We  entirely  agree  with  him,  because  we  adtait 
no  believers  qfter  it. 


60  PRESENTATION    OF     THE    CHURCH    TO    CHRIST 

Here  the  thing  to  be   done,  and,  beyond  all  doubt,  the 
time'  of  doing   it,  are    the   same    as    in    the    two  former 


Similarly,  again,  does  Paul  write  to  the  Colossians : — 

•  "  And  you,  that  were  sometime  alienated,  and  enemies  in  your 
mind  by  wicked  works,  yet  now  hath  he  reconciled  in 
the  body  of  his  flesh  through  death,  to  present  you  holy, 
and  unblameable,  and  unreproveable  in  his  sight."  (Col.  i. 
22,  vapaarijaai  Vfias  ^yiovs  icai  a/jco/^ov;  Kut  ovey/cXr/rovj  KaTCvoiTno* 
aVTOv.) 

Here  the  same  remark  applies,  both  as  to  the  purpose 
and  the  ti7ne. 

One  other  parallel  I  give  from  the  same  apostle. 

"  To  the  end  he  may  stablish  your  hearts  unblameable  in  holiness 
before  God,  even  our  Father,  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  with  all  his  saints."    (1  Thess.  iii.  13.)* 

The  presentation  of  the  Church  here  is  to  God.  even  our 
Father — in  the  other  passages  it  is  by  Christ  "  unto  Him- 
self." But  as  in  both  cases  it  is  at  his  "  coming"  that  this 
presentation  of  the  Church  takes  place,  it  is  obvious  that 
one  and  the  same  thing,  under  different  aspects,  is  intended 
in  all. 

And  now,  I  think  it  impossible  to  resist  the  combined 

*  It  is  the  first  part  of  this  verse  to  which  I  direct  attention,  not  the 
last — his  coming  "with  all  his  saints;"  although  I  have  no  doubt  this 
means  believers.  Bengel,  without  any  reason,  as  I  think,  takes  the  term 
"saints"  hereto  comprehend  angels  as  w^ll  as  men;  though  the  men 
he  recognizes  in  the  passage  are  not  a  fraction  of  Christ's  people,  but  the 
whole  body  of  the  elect — ^^elecios  e  terra."  Prebendary  Lowth,  as  Mr. 
A.  Bonar  notices,  seems  to  restrict  the  term  exclusively  to  angels; 
though  the  remark,  being  incidental,  and  occurring  in  his  Commentary 
on  Zechariah,  may  have  been  grounded  on  slight  examination  of  the  New 
Testament  use  of  the  term.  Calvin,  as  might  be  supposed,  understands 
it  exclusively  of  believing  men,  and  as  one  company.  But,  however  the 
term  be  understood,  it  will  not  affect  the  object  for  which  I  quote  the 
verse. 


AT    HIS    COMING.  6l 

fnrre  of  these  passages.     One  broad  magnificent  conccptloD 
pervades  them  all — 

The    absolute    completeness    of   the    Church    at  Christ's 

coming, 
The  spotless  'purity  in  which  it  will  then  be  presented, 

"as  a  chaste  virgin,"  to  Christ, 
The   resplendent  glory  in    which,  as    "  the    Bride,  the 

Lamb's  wife,"  she  shall  then  be  "  adorned  for  her 

husband," 
The  praise  which  will  redound  from  such  a  spectacle  to 

the  Redeemer  himself. 
The  rapturous  admiration  of  Him  which  it  will  kindle, 

and. 
The  ineffable  complacency  with   which   the  whole  will  be 

regarded  by  "  God,  even  our  Father." 

Thus  have  I  established  the  completeness  of  the  Church  at 
Chrisfs  coming.  I  have  limited  myself  to  a  few  passages, 
on  the  import  of  which  all  commentators,  ancient  and 
modern,  are  agreed  ;  but  it  is  written  as  with  a  sunbeam 
on  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament,  and  those  who  call  it 
in  question,  are  driven  to  seek  support  from  higlily  figura- 
tive portions  of  Old  Testament  prophecy,  and  from  the 
corresponding  book  of  the  New  Testament,  the  Apocalypse. 
Now  it  is  an  old  maxim  in  divinity,  that  doctrines  are  not 
to  be  built  upon  prophetic  or  symbolical  scripture*  The 
principle  is  one  of  undoubted  soundness,  and  of  indispen- 
sable necessity  as  a  bulwark  against  the  abuse  of  figurative 
language.  Pre-millennialism,  however,  is  on£  entire  product 
of  the  reverse  of  this  principle ;  and  in  the  case  before  us,  it 
can  produce  nothing  in  proof  of  the  incompleteness  of  the 
Church  at  Christ's  coming,  but  what  is  studded  all  over 

*  Yheolog'a  prophetica  non  est  argumentaiiva. 


62      THE    OPPOSITE    VIEW    DESTITUTE    OF    SUPPORT. 

>vith  figures.      How   slender  is  the  support  derived    even 
from  this  source,  may  be  seen  in  the  note  below.* 

*  Two  passages  especially  are  relied  on.    The  first  is, 
Zech.  xiv.  5.    "  The  Lord  my  God  shall  come,  and  all  the  saints  tcitk  thee :" 
(T|^S— Ixx.  fier   avrov,  reading  1532?). 

The  argument  from  this  passage  is,  that  we  have  here  Christ's  second 
coming  with  all  his  saints  before  the  millennium,  when  the  number  of 
the  saved  is  confessedly  incomplete;  and  therefore  only  such  of  them  can 
be  meant  as  have  lived  up  to  that  time. 

Answer  (1.)  By  "  saints,"  some  pre-millennialists  understand  not  men 
but  angels,  as  Deut.  xxxiii.  2.  In  that  case  the  passage  has  nothing  to 
do  with  our  point. 

(2.)  If  meii  be  meant,  the  question  still  remains,  I:i  what  sense  is  it 
meant  that  he  "comes,"  and  they  with  him?  That  it  is  his  second  per- 
sonal coming,  "in  the  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great 
noise,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat ;  the  earth  also, 
and  the  works  that  are  therein  being  burnt  up."  (2  Pet.  iii.  10) — is  so 
far  from  being  evident,  that  the  minute  details  of  what  is  to  happen 
at  the  time  here  predicted,  as  we  find  them  in  the  context — all  in 
that  case  to  be  taken  literally— are  totally  irreconcilable  with  it.  If  the 
prediction  relate  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans,  as 
the  majority  of  commentators  have  thought,  the  coming  of  the  Lord 
here  announced  must  mean  his  coming  in  vengeance  to  sweep  away 
"those  his  enemies,  that  would  not  that  he  should  reign  over  them," 
and  to  establish  on  the  ruins  of  a  carnalized  and  hostile  Judaism  the 
kingdom  of  his  grace.t  Or,  if  the  scene  predicted  relate  to  the  con- 
flicts that  are  to  issue  in  the  establishment  of  the  millennial  kingdom  on 
the  ruins  of  the  antichristian  interest,  the  sense  will  be  very  much  the 
same — the  saints  in  the  great  crisis  of  his  cause,  "  coming  (in  plain  flesh 
and  blood)  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the 
mighty."  In  favour  of  this  sense,  I  might  refer  to  Rev.  xvii.  11 :  "  These 
shall  make  war  with  the  Lamb,  and  the  Lamb  shall  overcome  them, 
for  he  is  Lord  of  lords,  and  King  of  kings  ;  and  they  that  are  with  him 
(/i£r'  aurotj)  are  called,  and  chosen  and  faithful :"  also  to  ch.  xii.  7.  8, 

t  Luther,  who  applies  this  prediction  to  the  destruction  of  .Jerusalem  by  the 
Romans,  refers  the  words  before  us  to  the  appearance  viadefor  Christ's  interest  at 
that  time.  "  Hoc,"  says  he, "  bene  et  congrue  sonat  de  ex  remo  die  ;  sed  quia  nou 
convenit  antecedens  textus,  in  hac  persto  sentential,  quod  Ohristus  qui  egressus  est 
per  Evangelium  in  bellum,  ita  quoque  vewit  per  suum  Spiritum,  cum  suis  apes- 
tolis,  conscionatoribus,  et  toto  Christianorum  coetu,  longe  alio  pacto,  (piam  cum 
▼eniret  ex  dejserto,  cum  suis  Sanctis,  de  quo  adventu  Moses,  Deut.  xxxii.  (xxxiii.) 
capite,  canit."    (Enarr.  in  Cap.  xiv..  Proph  ZachJ 


THE    BEARING    OF    THIS.  03 

If  then,  Christ,  when  he  comes  the  second  time,  is  to 
reign  on  the  earth  for  a  thousand  years,  it  will  not  be  over 

11:  "Michael  and  his  angels  fought,  and  the  dragon  fought  and  his 
angels,  and  prevailed  not :  And  they  overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb;"  &c.,  where  Christ's  soldiers,  in  the  war  against  Paganism,  are 
first  represented  as  "the  angels  of  Michael,"  and  then  seen  to  be  just 
believing  men  fighting  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  coming  off  more  than 
conquerors,  through  him  that  loved  them.  If  any  thing  like  this  be  the 
sense  of  the  passage  in  Zechariah,  it  has  no  bearing  on  the  glorified 
state. 

(3.)  The  whole  context  of  this  passage  is  highly  figurative,  and  in 
volved  in  difficulty,  as  is  evident  from  the  diversities  among  commenta 
tors ;  and  it  shows  great  poverty  of  proof  to  build  upon  such  a  passage, 
in  a  question  confessedly  of  vast  moment,  on  which  the  New  Testament 
abounds  in  the  plainest  statements. 

The  other  passage  is  from  that  book  of  symbols,  the  Apocalypse,  chap. 
Xix.  6-9  :— 

"And  I  heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of 
many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunderings,  saying,  Alleluia; 
for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth.  Let  us  be  gla(J  and  rejoice,  and 
give  honour  lo  him  ;  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and  his  wife 
hath  made  herself  ready.  And  to  her  was  granted  that  she  should  be  ar- 
rayed in  fine  linen,  clean  and  white  ;  for  the  fine  linen  is  the  righteousness 
of  saints.  And  he  saith  unto  me.  Write,  Blessed  are  they  which  are  called 
unto  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb.  And  he  saith  unto  me,  These  are 
the  true  sayings  of  God." 

The  argument  here  is,  that  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  with  his  Bride, 
or  the  Church,  is  said  to  take  place  immediately  after  the  fall  of  Anti- 
christ, or  before  the  millennium,  when  the  number  of  the  elect  will  cer- 
tainly not  be  complete. 

In  reply  to  this,  it  may  be  enough  to  say  that  this  cannot  be  the 
eictual  consummation  of  the  Marriage  between  Christ  and  his  Church  in 
glory,  because  in  the  two  last  chapters  of  this  book  (which  most  of  my 
opponents  agree  with  me  in  referring  to  the  everlasting  state)  the  Church 
is  described  as  "descending,"  after  the  millennium  is  all  over,  "as  a  bride 
adorned  for  her  husband ;"  and  it  is  rather  awkward  to  suppose  a  bridal 
preparation  and  a  presentation  of  the  parties  to  each  other  a  thousand 
years  after  the  union  has  been  consummated.* 

"  Christ's  marriage  with  his  Church,"  savs  Durham,  "  is  three  ways  spoken  of  in 
Scripture  :  1.  As  it  cometh  by  the  oflFer  of  the  gospel,  wherein  many  are  espoused, 

*  Bengel.— 'ETot/iaocK  lavrijy,  paravU  se,  i.  e.  coepit  parare  se,  uf  ireniarevKO, 
iiyaiTQva,  ijXiri/ra,  nactus  aumjidem.^  6fc.     Dk  ntjptiis  istis,  vide  c.  xxi  2,  9  a». 


64    WHAT  DO  THE   PRE-MILLENNIALISTS  SAY   TO  THIS  ? 

believing  men  still  left  in  their  mortal  bodies  upon  eartii. 
it  will  not  be  over  the  tribes  of  Israel  in  a  converted  state, 
nor  over  a  converted  Gentile  world.  Living  Christianity 
will  have  disappeared  from  the  earth  :  The  number  of  the 
elect  accomplished,  the  whole  body  transfigured,  and  thus 
prepared,  as  a  Bride  adorned  for  her  Husband,  "  will  with 
gladness  and  rejoicing  have  been  brought — will  have 
entered  into  the  King's  palace."     This  is  "  our  gathering 

TOGETHER  UNTO  HIM,"*  this  is  "  THE  UNIVERSAL  CONCOURSE 
AND    ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  FIRST-BORN  REGISTERED  IN  HEAVEN,"  f 

for  which  preparation  is  now  making,  and  to  which  every 
believer  is  in  spirit  already  joined. 

What  do  the  pre-millennialists  say  to  this  ?  It  divides 
them  into  two  classes  :  one  class  boldly  avowing  the  com* 
pleteoess  of  the  Church  before  the  millennium,  and  doing 
their  best,  by  various  adjustments  of  their  system,  to  avoid 
the  harsh  consequences  which  flow  from  it ;  while  the  other 
class,  recoiling  from  the  conclusions,  take  refuge  in  a  denial 
of  the  premises  from  which  they  flow — affirming  that   the 

and  by  faith  engaged  to  him. — (2  Cor.  xi.  2.)  Thus  it  hath  been  since  Christ's  days ; 
his  marriage  was  then,  and  many  were  and  are  invited. — (Malt.  xxii.  &c.)  2.  As 
it  is  consummated  and  perfected  at  the  end,  when  the  queen  is  brought  to  the 
king,  and  abideth  with  him  for  ever. — (Ps.  xlv.)  3.  There  is  an  intervening  step, 
when  the  fulness  of  tiie  Gentiles  and  the  Jews  sliall  be  brought  in  together,  that 
is,  marrying  eminently,  because  it  is  the  grafting  again  of  the  old  branches,  and  the 

bringing  back  of  a  divorced  wife,  for  a  time  forsaken And,  as  in  scripture, 

there  is  a  threefold  resurrection — 1.  By  the  gospel,  which  was  and  is  alway  (John 
V.  14) ;  2  At  the  end,  which  is  general,  as  the  first  is  partial ;  3.  When  Jews  and 
Geutiles  shall  come  in  together,  which  is  (Rom.  xi  )  as  life  from  the  dead,  which  is 
between  the  two  former — so  may  we  consider  the  Church's  marriage,  which  is  the 
same  with  the  resurrection,  in  a  threefold  consideration  also.  It  is  not  the  first 
nor  the  second  marriage  that  is  mentioned  here  ;  for  it  is,  in  a  singular  way,  such 
a  marriage  as  was  not  before,  and  the  last  end  is  not  intended  here ;  for  the  last 
marriage  doth  not  comprehend  an  accession  to  the  militant  Church,  as  this  doth 
here,  going  along  with  tlie  Pope's  overthrow  before  ihe  end." — (.Commentary  ufton 
the  Book  of  the  Revelation,  1653,  ad  he.) 

*   '  H/iwi'  STTKTVvaybiyr]  tt:    avrov.      2  Thess.  ii.  1. 

+  Tlavriyvpii     gai    CKK^ricrta     n^ioTOTOKOiv     ev     ovpapoTs      aTtoycypa^nevoiv. 

Heb.  xii.  23. 


TWO    GREAT    DIVISIONS    ON    THIS    POINT.  65 

Church,  so  far  from  being  complete  at  Christ's  coming,  will 
have  an  accession  of  myriads  of  believers  after  his  coming, 
from  among  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  over  whom  he  is  to  reign. 
Let  us  try  it  both  ways,  and  see  where  we  are  on  either  «up. 
position. 

First  :  Let  us  hear  one  or  two  of  the  former  class — who 
place  the  Reign  upon  cafth  after  the  completion  of  all  the 
elect. 

Homes^  a  contemporary  of  Mede,  two  centuries  ago,  placed 
the  conflagration,  the  creation  of  the  new  heavens  and  new 
^rth,  the  resurrection  of  all  the  deceased,  and  the  change 
of  all  the  living  saints — embracing  the  whole  number  of  the 
elect — before  the  millennium. 

"  In  that  new  creation,"  says  he,  "  Christ  restores  all  things  to 
their  perfection,  and  every  believer  to  his ;  to  the  end  that  all 
believers  may  jointly  and  co-ordinately  rule  over  the  whole 
world,  and  all  things  therein,  next  under  Christ  their  Head.  I  say 
flZZ,  and*  not  a  part  only,  as  some  unwarily  publish.  And  I  say 
jointly,  and  not  one  part  of  saints  to  usurp  authority  over  the  rest, 
as  many  dream.  And  co-ordinately,  all  upon  equal  terms,  not  some 
saints  to  rule  by  deputies  made  of  the  rest  of  saints,  as  men  seem 
to  interpret."* 

But  will  there  be  no  other  men  on  the  new  earth  besides 
these  risen  and  changed  saints — to  perpetrate  the  rebellion 
and  suffer  the  perdition  predicted,  at  the  end  of  the  thou- 
sand years  ?  Yes,  myriads  ;  but  all  unconverted  and  incon- 
vertible. None  but  "open  and  obstinate  ungodly  men" 
being  destroyed  by  the  conflagration,  the  rest  will  be  '•  re- 
served out  of  the  fire  to  be  an  appendix  of  the  new  creation, 
as  Lactantius,  Sixtus  Senensis,  and  Dr.  Twisse  understand." 
These,  "  by  virtue  of  the  Adamic  covenant,  shall  be  restored 
in  soul  and  body  to  the  natural  perfection  which  Adanc 
had  in  the   state   of  innocency ;  but  being  mutable,  they 

♦  Resurrection  Revealed,  ut  supra,  p.  279. 

r3 


66  FIRST    CLASS HOMES BURNET. 

shall  fall,  when  in  like  manner  they  are  assaulted  by 
Satan.  Out  of  these  shall  spring  the  brood  of  Gog  and 
Magog." 

"  The  Church,  bemg  now  as  heaven  on  earth,  the  false-hearted 
spawn  of  future  Gog  and  Magog  shall  be  remote  on  earth,  near 
their  future  hell.  .  .  .  But  if  these  hypocrites  were  nearer  the 
Church,  they  might  perhaps  be  converted'?  We  answer,  No; 
for  it  is  (if  we  may  use  that  word)  the  fate  of  the  millenary  period, 
I  mean,  God's  righteous  peremptory  sentence,  that  as  all  that  time 
there  shall  be  no  DEgeTierating  of  believers,  so  no  more  REgenerating  oj 
any  unbeliever s^'*'- 

Burnet^  a  little  later,  in  his  celebrated  "  Theory  of  the 
Earth"  agrees  with  Homes  as  to  the  time  of  the  conflagra- 
tion, the  new  heavens  and  new  earth,  and  the  completion 
of  the  elect  to  reign,  in  a  resurrection  state,  on  the  new 
earth. 

"Neither,"  says  he,  "is  there  any  distinction  made,  that  I  find, 
by  St.  John,  of  two  sorts  of  saints  in  the  millennium,  the  one  in  heaven 
(in  resurrection  bodies),  the  other  upon  earth  (in  a  mortal  state). 
This  is  such  an  idea  of  the  millennium  as  to  my  eye  hath  neither 
beauty  nor  foundation  in  Scripture. "t 

But  whereas,  according  to  him,  all  the  wicked  are  to 
perish  in  the  conflagration,  he  has  to  reproduce  them,  one 

*  Page  282.    Also  Appendix,  No.  II. 

The  editor  of  this  reprint  of  Homes — Mr.  Brooks — says,  in  a  note  to 
one  part  of  the  chapter  from  which  we  quote,  that  "in  the  Appendix 
it  will  be  seen  that  he  (Homes)  is  aware  of  the  distinction  between 
the  saints  of  the  resurrection  and  those  who  remain  in  the  flesh." — (P. 
286.)  If,  by  "  those  who  remain  in  the  flesh,"  Mr,  B.  means  "  those 
saints,''  or  Christians — which  is  the  plain  sense  of  his  words — it  is  not 
correct. 

t  Theory  of  the  Earth,  book  iv.  ch.  7.  Second  edition,  1691. 
.  Tliough  Burnet  refers  here  to  the  view  of  Piscator  and  others,  who 
took  the  millennial  reign  of  the  risen  saints  to  be  in  heaven,  the  reader 
will  observe  that  what  he  characterizes  as  void  of  beauty  and  Scripture 
foundation,  is  simply  the  distinction  of  two  sorts  of  saints  in  the  mitlenr 
nium. 


FIRST    CLASS PERRY.  67 

way  or  other,  to  "  compass  the  camp  of  the  saints  and  the 
beloved  city"  at  the  end  of  the  millennium  (Rev.  xx.  7-9), 
and  to  be  consumed  in  their  mad  assault  upon  immortal 
men.  "  This,"  says  he,  "  is  a  common  difficulty  to  all  (that 
is,  all-premillennialists,  for  it  is  their  system  alone  which 
creates  the  difficulty) ;  and  every  one  must  contribute  their 
best  thoughts  and  conjectures  towards  the  solution  of  it." 
The  reader  will  smile  at  Burnet's  own  solution  of  it,  if  new 
to  him. 

"It  seems  probable,"  says  he,  "that  there  will  be  a  double  race 
of  mankind  in  the  future  earth,  very  different  from  one  another. 

The  one  born  from  heaven,  sons  of  God  and  of  the 

resurrection,  who  are  the  true  saints  and  heirs  of  the  millennium  : 
the  others  born  of  the  earth,  sons  of  the  earth,  generated  from 
the  slime  of  the  ground  and  heai,  of  the  sun,  as  brute  creatures 
were  at  first.  This  second  progeny,  or  generation  of  men, 
in  the  future  earth,  I  understand  to  be  signified  by  the  pro- 
phet under  these  borrowed  or  feigned  names  of  Gog  and  Ma- 
gog."* 

Perry^  early  in  the  last  century,  thus  emphatically  ex- 
presses himself  on  the  completion  of  the  elect  before  the 
personal  advent  and  reign  on  earth  : — 

"  It  is  certain  that  when  Christ  personally  comes  from  heaven 
will  be  the  time  of  the  open  solemnization  of  the  marriage  glory 
between  Him  and  the  Spouse;  and,  if  so,  then  the  bride  must 
be  ready  against  that  time,  as  it  is  expressed  in  this  text,  *  And 
his  Wife  hath  made  herself  ready ; '  which  cannot  be  if  they  are 
not  all  converted  before  Christ  comes.  For  this  I  think  is  un- 
deniable, that  by  the  *  Wife,'  '  Bride,'  or  "  Spouse '  of  Christ,  the 

whole  Elect  must  be  understood How  can  it  be  thought 

that  Christ,  when  he  comes  from  heaven  to  celebrate  the  mar- 
riage-feast between  himself  and  his  people,  that  he  should  have 
a  lame  and  imperfect  Bride ;  as  she  must  be,  if  some  should  be 
with  Christ  in  a  perfect  glorified  state,  and  some  of  his  mystical 

♦  Ch.  10.  >>^>  ^^  ,.--^  ^  .^. 


^^miSi 


68  FIRST    CLASS PERRY. 

body  at  the    same  time  in  an  imperfect  and  ungl(  rifled  condi- 
tion 1 "  * 

Perry,  however,  went  further  than  this  ;  not  only  deny- 
ing the  existence  of  saints  in  the  flesh  during  the  millennium, 
but  even  of  men  at  all  in  the  flesh  durino;  that  period — the 
earth  being,  according  to  him,  in  exclusive  possession  of  men 
in  the  resurrection-state  during  the  millennium.  A  pleasant 
theory,  truly  ;  but  how,  according  to  it,  did  he  get  the 
last  conflict  after  the  millennium  brought  about  (Rev.  xx. 
8,  9)  ?  "  This,"  says  he,  "  seems  to  me  to  be  the  knottiest 
text  throughout  the  whole  Bible  in  relation  to  this  glorious 
time."  In  his  attempts  to  solve  it,  he  first  rejects  the  or- 
dinary view — of  the  spiritual  glory  of  the  latter  day  teruii- 
nating  in  an  extensive  outbreak  of  human  corruption  (that 
is  not  a  glorious  enough  view  of  the  millennium  for  those 
who  hold  the  Personal  Reign)  :  Next,  he  rejects  the  now 
prevalent  view  among  pre-millennialists,  of  two  classes  of 
saints — the  one  perfect,  immortal,  glorified,  and  reigning  ; 
the  other  unglorified,  mortal,  imperfect,  and  ruled  over, 
having  also  mixed  up  with  them  a  multitude  of  unconverted 
professors,  who  are  at  last  to  attack  the  rest  and  perish  in 
the  attempt.  Homes'  view  he  then  rejects — of  "  some, 
not  in  the  covenant  of  grace,  preserved  for  the "  pre-mil- 
lennial  "burning  of  the  world,  and  restored  unto  an 
Adamitical  state  of  innocence" — as  a  thing  to  him  unintel- 
ligible.! He  admits,  indeed,  that  a  remnant  of  the  wicked 
may  be  preserved  from  the  conflagration,  who  may  "  be 
left  to  multiply  in  some  of  the  outside  parts  or  borders  of 
the  earth,"  far  enough  from  seeing  or  beholding  the  glory 

*  The  Glory  of  Christ's  Visible  Kingdom  in  this  World.  By  Joseph 
Perry,  pp.  225,  226.     Northampton,  1721. 

t  "  By  what  means  these  will  be  cleansed,  if  not  in  the  covenant  of 
grace,  from  that  original  pollution  which  the  whole  posterity  of  Adam  is 
polluted  with,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know." — (P.  406.) 


FIRST    CLASS IN    PRESENT    DAY.  69 

of  Christ  and  the  saints  during  the  time  of  "  that  glorious 
reign,"  and  renewed  to  no  Adamitical  state.  But  he  gives 
a  number  of  reasons  against  even  this  view,  and  ventures 
finally  on  one  of  his  own.  "  which  he  knows  is  out  of  the 
common  road  of  almost  all  expositors ;  and  that  is, 
that  the  Grog  and  Magog  who  will  arise  at  the  end  of 
the  thousand  years,  to  compass  the  camp  of  the  saints, 
will  consist  of  the  number  of  all  the  wicked  when  raised 
out  of  their  graves  /" — (P.  409.)  He  is  aware  that  "  this, 
by  reason  of  its  being  altogether  new,  may  seem  strange, 
sound  harsh,  and  appear  altogether  incredible  unto  many." 
But  he  "  earnestly  entreats  the  reader"  to  weigh  his  rea- 
sons for  it,  especially  as  he  only  humbly  propounds  it  for 
the  clearing  of  the  darkest  point  in  the  pre-millennial 
scheme.  His  reasons  are  sensible  and  convincing,  as 
against  the  other  theories  of  his  pre-millennial  brethren ; 
but  in  favour  of  his  own  view,  I  shall  not  trouble  the 
reader  with  them. 

In  a  word,  and  coming  down  to  our  own  day.  Dr. 
M'Neile  thus  refers  to  those  pre-millennialists  whom  he  had 
found  maintaining  the  completeness  of  the  Church  at 
Christ's  coming : — 

"It  is  objected  again,  that  tlie  mystical  body  of  Christ  shall  be 
completed  at  his  second  advent,  and  consequently  admit  of  no 
inci'ease,  and  that  therefore  the  nations  of  the  earth  subsequent 
to  that  event  cannot  be  brought  into  a  Christian  state ;"  for,  "  since 
they  fall  after  the  millennium,  it  is  necessary  to  limit  the  nature 
of  their  blessedness  during  the  millennium  to  an  Adamic  state — 
an  Adamic  state  of  innocent  creature-ship,"  language  uncouth 
enough  certainly,  but  not  more  so  than  the  thing  it  is  intended  to 
describe — "  from  which  it  is  alleged  they  may  fall,  as  our  first 
parents  fell."* 

♦  Lectures  on  the  Prophecies  relative  to  the  Jewish  Nation,  pp.  185- 
189.    First  Edition,  1830. 
The  Adamic  theory  put  forth  a  few  year?  ngo  by  Mr.  Scott,  cannot  be 


70  FIRST    CLASS MR.    BURCHELL. 

Lastly,  A  little  work  has  just  appeared  by  Mr.  Burchell,  * 
in  which  a  theory  is  propounded  identical  with  Perry's 
except  in  one  particular.  The  conflagration,  the  creation 
of  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth,  and  the  completion 
of  the  elect — are  all  to  be  pre-millennial :  The  new  earth 
is  to  be  in  exclusive  possession  of  the  glorified  saints, 
with  their  Head  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  their  millennial 
bliss  undisturbed  by  the  presence  of  any  other  men  what- 
ever. 

"  When  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent,  the  Son  of  man,  is  come  in 
his  glory,  then  all  flesh  comes  to  its  end ;  the  earth,  with  all  that 
is  therein,  must  be  dissolved  in  fire.  The  work  of  the  ministry 
has  ceased ;  there  are  none  to  seek  and  save  when  the  Lord  has 
made  up  his  jewels,  and  is  making  a  full  end  of  his  enemies.  The 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  coming  to  reign  over  the  renewed  earth,  with 
his  Church  perfected  and  complete — with  all  who  love  his  appear- 
ing, whether  they  have  died  in  faith,  or  then  remain  alive.  The 
thousand  years  is  the  Lord's  great  Sabbath-day,  the  glorious  rest ; 
when,  having  finished  his  gospel  work,  he  will  initiate  his  redeemed 
in  the  possession  of  bliss,  and  in  the  unclouded  knowledge  of  an 
eternity  to  follow."  As  to  saints  living  in  the  flesh  after  the  Lord's 
coming,  "  I  agree,"  says  he,  "  in  rejecting  (I  would  say  abhorring, 
if  it  were  not  that  I  fear  to  ofiend  many  good  men)  the  mixed 


classed  with  those  which  admit  the  completeness  of  the  Church  at 
Christ's  coming.  According  to  him  there  will  be  two  classes  of  righteous 
men  in  the  flesh  under  the  millennial  reign  of  Christ  and  his  glorified 
saints: — a  race  of  Christians,  "upheld  from  falling  by  union  to  Christ 
and  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit;"  and  a  race  of  '' Adamitlcal 
men" — as  Perry  would  call  them — "freed  from  all  the  effects  of  the 
fall,"  particularly  "  the  corrupt  nature  and  original  sin,"  and  "  restored 
to  the  state  of  holiness  and  righteousness  in  which  Adam  was  before  the 
fall" — {how,  we  are  left  in  the  dark) — but  who,  "having  merely  Adam's 
state,  and  nothing  more,  will  fall  as  Adam  fell."— ("Outlines  of  Prophe- 
cy," and  "  Tht  Millennium  of  the  Bible  Vindicated."  By  James  Scott, 
Preacher  of  the  Gospel,  1844,  1845.) 

*  The  Midnight  Cry;  or,  the  Coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  Considered. 
By  the  Rev.  Joseph  Burchell.     1849. 


FIRST    CLASS MR.    BURCHELL.  71 

millennium,  the  half  carnal,  half  spiritual  glory  drawn  out  by  many." 
And  us  to  sinners,  "the  idea,"  he  says,  "  of  a  sijmer  surviving  that 
day  (of  Christ's  coming)  would  be  absurd,  if  it  were  not  worse  than 
an  absurdity."— (Pp.  3,  4,  50.) 

But  if  neither  saints  nor  sinners  survive  the  coming 
of  the  Lord  before  the  millennium,  whence  does  he 
bring  the  apostate  nations,  who,  at  the  close  of  that 
period,  come  up  against  the  camp  of  the  saints  and  the 
beloved  city  ?  Not  from  the  dead,  as  Perry  does.  Yei 
here  he  feels  the  tenderness  of  his  ground.  "  I  well 
know,"  he  says,  "  where  the  chief  difficulty  lies."  His 
solution  of  it  is  certainly  new.  "  The  nalions'^  ( »"« 
«0j/)j)j  "  who,  deceived  by  Satan,  gather  themselves  together, 
as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  from  the  four  quarters"  or  "  corners 
(yuvtatj)  of  the  earth,"  are  evil  spirits,  "  an  invisible  king* 
dom,  headed  by  the  Serpent,  who,  during  the  millennium, 
are  bound  at  the  angles  or  corners  of  the  earth,  at  the  four 
winds  of  heaven,  the  mysterious  starting-point  of  spirits." 
(P.  20.)  This  new  idea — of  Satan's  deceiving  himself — T 
suppose  I  may  leave  without  comment.* 

The  weight  of  these  testimonies  to  the  absolute  com- 
pleteness of  the  Church  at  Christ's  coming,  lies  merely  in 
the  quarter  from  which  they  come.  With  any  other  than 
pre-millennialists,  such  statements  as  we  have  quoted 
would  be  a  matter  of  course  ;  for  none  but  they  have  any 
doubt  that  Christ  will  stay  in  the  heavens  till  all  his  re- 

*  In  this  little  book,  however,  of  a  beloved  friend,  its  readers  will  easi- 
ly discern  the  elegance,  refinement,  and  spirituality  which  characterise 
the  author.  How  beautiful,  for  example,  is  that  reference  to  the  song  of 
the  second  Coming,  as  "//le  antistrophe  of  the  first  Advent."  (P.  15) 
Some  fine  views  of  Christ  occur  here  and  there  ;  and  though  the  tone  is 
sometimes  a  little  too  authoritative,  and  not  without  a  tincture  of  the 
mystical  and  the  morbid,  such  spirituality  as  breathes  through  the  whole 
is  refreshing  in  these  days  of  S3jularity. 


72  REMARKS    ON    THIS    CLASS. 

deemed  be  brought  in.  But  when  any  of  them  admit  this 
we  see  at  what  a  sacrifice  it  is  done.  It  destroys  at  once 
the  sobriety  and  credibility  of  their  scheme.  What  it  seems 
to  gain  at  the  beginning^  and  during  the  currency  of  the 
thousand  years,  it  more  than  loses  at  the  end  of  that 
period.  Bright  would  be  the  hope  they  hold  out,  of  "  our 
gathering  together  unto  Him"  at  his  coming,  and  reign 
with  him  on  the  earth — none  that  are  "  His^^  left  behind, 
but  all  '•  ever  with  the  Lord" — were  the  prospect  not  over- 
cast, and  the  vessel  marred  in  the  hands  of  the  potter,  by  the 
introduction  of  a  very  different  and  discordant  element  at 
the  end  of  one  brief  millennium  of  celestial  bliss — even  the 
rush  of  myriad  hosts  from  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  against 

what  ?  against  the  very  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  the 

pavilion  of  his  immortal  and  transfigured  people  !  It 
matters  little  which  of  the  ways  of  explaining  this  be 
adopted — whether,  with  Homes  and  Burnet,  the  rebel 
multitude  be  thought  to  be  mortal  men  ;  or,  with  Perry, 
the  wicked  raised  from  the  dead  ;  or,  with  Mr.  Burchell, 
evil  spirits.  The  absurdity  of  all  ways  of  it  is  alike  mani- 
fest. But  those  who  concede  to  us  that  there  will  be 
no  earthly  Church  after  Christ  comes,  and  yet  insist  on 
bringing  him  from  heaven  before  the  millennium,  cannot 
help  themselves.  As  their  concession  to  us  deprives  them 
of  all  materials  for  bringing  about  the  final  conflict.^  they 
are  driven  into  such  extravagant  ways  of  realizing  it  as 
only  serve  to  show  the  hopeless  impracticability  of  their 
scheme  They  could  avoid  their  difficulty  by  denying  the 
completeness  of  the  Church  when  Christ  comes.  But  to 
this  notion  they  have  as  much  repugnance  as  we  have  ; 
and  rather  than  fall  in  with  what  they  regard  as  abhorrent 
and  in  the  face  of  Scripture,  they  resort  to  solutions  of 
their  difficulty  which  all  but  themselves  perceive  to  be 
extravagant  and  incredible.     It  is  this  then,  which  gives 


SECOND    CLASS THEIR    THEORY.  73 

weight  to  their  testimony  to  the  completeness  of  the 
Church  at  the  Lord's  coming.  It  is  the  testimony  of  those 
who  have  every  inducement  (so  to  speak)  to  deny  it — who 
feel  themselves  shut  up  to  the  admission,  cost  what  it  may, 
that  when  Christ  comes — whether  before  the  millennium  or 
not — he  will  want  none  of  his  redeemed. 

The  SECOND  class  of  pre-millennialists  consists  of  those 
who  deny  this — embracing  nearly  all  who  hold  the  Personal 
Reign  in  our  day,  and  against  whose  system  I  chiefly  write. 
According  to  them,  when  the  apostle  says,  "  They  that 
are  Chrisfs  (shall  be  quickened)  at  his  coming,"  he  means 
not  his  whole  mystical  body — the  universal  family  of  the 
redeemed — but  only  such  of  them  as  shall  have  lived  up  to 
the  millennium.  On  this  extraordinary  liberty  I  submit 
the  following  remarks  : — 

1.  It  is  a  violent,  offensive,  and  perilous  departure  from 
the  plain  meaning  of  the  words,  not  only  here,  but  in  all 
similar  passages  of  Scripture,  in  which  it  is  impossible  to 
point  out  any  thing,  I  say  not  which  demands.,  but  which 
even  admits  of  a  limitation  in  the  sense. 

2.  This  departure  from  the  plain  meaning  of  words 
comes  strangely  from  the  advocates  of  literal  interpretation 
— who  ascribe  to  this  same  vicious  habit  of  departing  from 
the  literal  and  obvious  sense  of  Scripture,  nearly  all  the 
opposition  which  their  doctrine  meets  with.  Those  who 
will  allow  no  latitude  in  the  interpretation  of  prophetic 
language — who  insist  on  our  taking  predictions  imbedded 
in  symbol  and  figure  with  a  literality  reckless  of  conse- 
quences— are  the  very  persons  who  take  to  themselves  this 
prodigious  latitude  in  the  interpretation  of  the  most  un- 
adorned statements  that  can  be  imagined.  The  intelligert 
reader,  while  he  marks  this  inconsistency,  will  trace  it  to 
the  necessities  of  the  case  and  the  difficulties  of  the  systom» 

o 


74  SECOND    CLASS 

Once  insert  the  pre-millennial  wedge  into  the  text  of 
Scripture,  and  a  loosening  process  will  commence,  the  ex- 
tent of  which  will  depend  upon  the  energy  and  determina- 
tion with  which  it  is  driven  in. 

3.  Strange  to  say,  the  very  party  who  contend  for  the 
glorification  of  only  a  fractional  'part  of  Christ's  people  at 
his  coming,  seem  at  times  to  forget  themselves,  and    fall 
in  with  our  views.     They  cannot  part,  it  seems,  with  the 
bright  expectation  of  a  perfect,  public,   and  simultaneous 
glorification  of  the  lohole  Church  at  the  Saviour's  second 
appearing  ;  and  they  kindle  into  just  ardour  at  the  glorious 
prospect — as  if  their  system  did  not  cut  it  up  by  the  roots. 
"  0  how  glorious,"    exclaims  sweet    old    Durante    already 
quoted,  "  will  that  salvation  be,  when  all   the  heirs  of  sal- 
vation shall  meet  together  !      Now,  all  are  not  saved  ;  the 
whole   body  now  is  in  trouble  for  a  part.      Then   all  the 
children  of  the  Father  shall  meet  together  in  their  Father's 
presence  ;  they  shall  come  from  the   east   and  west,  from 
north  and  south,  and  sit  down  in  that  kingdom  ;  yea,  and 
then  all  saints  shall  be  sweetly  conjoined.    Jewels  scattered 
are  not  so  resplendent  ;  but  joined  in  some  rich  pendent, 
O  how  glorious  are  they  !     In  that  day  Christ  will  gather 
up   all  his  jewels — he  will  bring  in  every  saint   into  one — 
gather  them  into  one  great  jewel,  one  precious  pendent,  which 
shall  jointly  lie  in  his  own  bosom.      Now  a  saved  soul  sighs 
and  cries,  Where  is  Israel  ? — where  is  Judah  ?      When 
will  the  Lord  save  them  ?     Why,  poor  hearts,  you  shall  all 
meet  at  that  day — ^be  saved   with  an  universal  salvation  ; 
and  so  be  all  of  you  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and 
the  patriarchs,   prophets — all  the  apostles   and    martyrs  ; 
yea,  all  that  fear  God,  small  as  well  as  great.      All,  always, 
altogether  in  the  presence  of  your  Saviour  ! — surely,  then^ 
you  will  say,  that  salvation  is  very  sweet.      Not  one   saint 
shall  be  missing  in  that  day  ;  but  all  shall  altogether  meel^ 


THEIR    INCONSISTENCY.  .75 

and  enjoy  the  salvation  of  Christ  then,  so  universal  shall  it 
be."*  Now  these  statements  are  very  pleasant  upon  our 
principles.  We  can  cordially  respond  to  them,  and  take 
the  full  comfort  of  them.  But  what  are  we  to  make  of 
them  upon  the  pre-millennial  doctrine — "  All  the  heirs  of 
salvation  meeting  together  in  their  Father's  presence,"  at 
the  beginning  of  the  thousand  years — "  not  one  saint  missing 
in  that  day"  1 

But  perhaps  this  is  more  the  language  of  ardour  than 
of  accuracy,  and  of  an  age  when  the  doctrine  of  the  pre- 
millennial  advent  was  not  so  well  understood  in  its  mani- 
fold bearings  as  it  is  now  ?  Hear,  then,  Mr.  Bickersteth. 
— hear  him,  not  giving  vent  to  his  feelings  in  loose 
language,  but  calmly  and  didactically  delivering  what  he 
takes  to  be  the  testimony  of  Scripture  on  this  point.  In 
his  chapter  on  the  "  Period  of  the  Second  Coming,"  the 
following  is  the  fifth  of  what  he  calls  "  The  New  Testa- 
ment Statements  bearing  on  this  subject :"  "  One  glorious 
HOPE  IS  SET  BEFORE  THE  CHURCH,  in  the  Ncw  Testament. f 
This  hope  is  set  before  us  collectively  and  in  common.  It 
is  not  to  be  given  separately  and  at  different  periods  ;  but 
it  is  a  glory  belonging  to  the  Church,  to  be  given  to  it  as  a 
corporate  body,  and  at  a  particular  period — the  coming  of 
our  Lord  ;  and  while  it  is  to  be  the  one  object  of  hope  of 
all  the  Church  in  every  age,  it  is  to  be  enjoyed  together  as 
one  body.  For  this  all  are  to  be  looking. "J  Then  follow 
a  number  of  excellent  proof- texts.  Now,  in  this  statement 
we  perfectly  and  zealously  concur ;  but  the  marvel  is,  how 
any  man  who  holds  the  views  which  he   does  can  put  it 

*  Christ's  Appearance  the  Second  Time,  ut  supra,  pp.  51-53.  One 
would  think  from  this  extract,  that  Durant  belonged  to  our  Jirst  class; 
out  as  this  is  not  clear,  and  some  passages  seem  to  look  the  other  way 
I  give  it  in  the  above  connexion. 

t  The  capitals  and  italics  are  the  author's  own. 

I  Practical  Guide  to  tha  Prophecies.     Fifth  edition,  p.  80. 


76  SECOND    CLASS 

down  as  a  statement  of  his  own  belief.  If  tlie  author  will 
unchurch  the  myriads  that  are  to  people  the  earth  during 
the  thousand  years — if  he  will  tell  us  plainly,  that  the 
"  men  who  shall  then  be  blessed  m  Christ" — the  "  all 
nations  who  shall  call  him  blessed" — will  not  be  "  blessed" 
with  vital  union  to  him  and  participation  in  the  blessings 
of  his  salvation,  we  can  understand  him ;  for  then  he  will 
just  rank  with  our  first  class,  whose  views  of  the  "  Adamic 
state  of  innocent  creatureship,"  in  which  the  millennial 
nations  are  to  rejoice,  have  at  least  the  merit  of  consistency. 
In  such  case,  he  is  at  full  liberty  to  speak  of  the  glorifica- 
tion of  the  Church  as  being  "  given  to  it  as  a  corporate 
body,  and  at  a  particular  period — the  coming  of  our  Lord  ;" 
for  the  "  corporate  body"  is  then  completed — "  the  Church," 
by  his  own  hypothesis,  "  is  then  entire."  But  it  will  not 
do  to  take  the  benefit  and  the  comfort  of  a  simultaneous 
glorification  of  the  whole  Church  at  the  commencement  of 
the  millennium,  and  then  to  expatiate  on  the  glories  of  a 
millennial  Church,  after  that,  sojourning  on  earth  for  a  thou- 
sand  years.  Your  expectation  of  the  Church's  corporate 
glory  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord  is  beautiful  and  soul-stir- 
ring ;  but  that  expectation  is  ours^  not  yours.  You  have 
no  right  to  it,  but  on  one  condition — that  you  unchris- 
tianize — that  you  sever  from  Christ  and  all  his  saving 
benefits — every  one  of  the  holy  and  happy  myriads  with 
whom  you  people  and  bless  the  earth  during  the  thousand 
years.  When  you  have  done  this,  you  will  then  be  entitled 
to  kindle  at  a  prospect  infinitely  superior  to  even  this 
happy  state  of  things — the  prospect  of  appearing  in  glory 
"  as  a  corporate  body,  and  at  a  particular  period,  even  the 
coming  of  our  Lord."  But  while  you  believe  in  the  Church- 
state  of  the  millennial  nations — in  the  Christian  character 
of  the  latter  day  glory — you  do  but  dazzle  your  readers  with 
descriptions  of  a  glory  never  to  be  realized  on  your  prin 


THEIR    INCONSISTENCY.  77 

ciples  ;  for  it  is  a  manifest  abuse  of  language  to  say,  that 
you  expect  the  Church  in  its  entireness  to  appear  with 
Christ  in  glory  at  his  coming. 

Still,  one  may  say,  perhaps  even  Mr.  Bickersteth  does 
not  here  speak  the  sentimeuts  of  his  friends.  Does  so 
glaring  an  inconsistency  pervade  the  writings  of  pre-millen- 
nialists  generally  ?  Let  the  reader  judge  from  the  follow- 
ing passages,  which  I  quote  from  the  second  volume  of 
Church  of  England  Lectures  on  the  Advent.*  ^The  first 
lecture  is  on  "  The  Manifestation  of  the  Church  at  the 
coming  of  the  Lo^:d,"  from  Eph.  v.  25-27,  "  Christ  loved 
the  Church,"  &c.,  which  the  authorf  interprets  quite  as 
absolutely  as  we  ourselves  do.  "  What,"  says  he,  "  is 
meant  by  the  Church  ?  It  is  composed  of  all  those  who 
have  been  given  to  Christ  by  the  Father  from  eternity.  It 
comprises  all  those  for  whom,  in  an  especial  manner,  Christ 
gave  himself"  On  "  the  nature  of  the  manifestation,"  he 
remarks,  "  1.  The  Church  will  be  glorious  in  its  complete- 
ness. Never  before  shall  the  whole  church  have  been  seen 
together — then  he  will  have  accomplished  the  number  of 
HIS  elect.  That  prayer  will  be  answered  which  our  Lord 
offered  up  just  before  he  was  crucified,  '  Neither  pray  I  for 
these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall  believe  on  me 
through  their  word,  that  they  all  may  be  one,'  &c. — not 
ONE  OP  THE  Lord's  people  will  be  wanting" — and  more 
to  the  same  effect.  He  then  comes  to  "  the  time  when  this 
shall  take  place  ;"  on  which,  after  adducing  some  very  good 
texts,  he  says,  "  These  statements  positively  and  distinctly 
mark  the  time  of  the  manifestation  of  the  Church  to  be  at  the 
coming  of  the  Lcrd:'—{V]).  5,  7,  8,  12.) 

The  fifth  lecture  is  on  "  the  Lord's  Supper  as  a  pledge 
of  the  Lord's  return" — a  subject  on  which  we  shall  have 

*  The  Second  Coming  of  Christ  Practically  Considered.  Nisbet.  .844. 
t  Rev.  E.  Auriol,  Rector  of  St.  Dunstan's. 
g2 


78  SECOND    CLASS 

something  to  say  by  and  by.  The  following  sentence! 
from  this  lecture  are  as  destructive  of  the  scheme  they  are 
brought  to  support  as  any  thing  we  could  say  on  the  sub- 
ject. "  The  Lord's  Supper,"  says  Mr.  Brock,*  "  is  a  feast. 
And  what  a  festival  will  that  be  when  all  the  sons  of  God 
are  united  at  their  fatJier^ s  table  !  .  .  .  Catholicity  is  another 
manner  in  which  the  Supper  of  the  Lord  becomes  a  pledge 
to  believers  of  the  econd  advent.  All  the  Church  are  made 
partakers  of  this  ordinance.  It  is  open  to  believers — to 
them  only,  and  to  each  and  all  of  them.  Thus  it  is  catho- 
lic to  the  Church,  exclusive  to  the  world.  So  will  it  be  as 
to  the  future.  There  shall  be  an  exclusion  of  all  the  wicked  ; 
an  admission  of  all  the  righteous.  They,  they  only,  and 
each  and  all  of  them,  shall  be  admitted  to  the  Saviour's 
presence.  Not  one  of  them  shall  be  wanting.  Their 
names  have  been  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life,  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world.  Their  place  is  prepared,  and 
it  cannot  be  vacant.  They  are  members  of  his  body, 
WITHOUT  WHOM  (the  least  of  them)  that  body  would  be 
MAIMED  AND  INCOMPLETE.  All  shall  appear  at  the  appointed 
time,  and  each  assist  to  make  up  the  perfect  symmetry  and 
exact  proportion  of  that  catholic  assembly." — Pp.  122,  126, 
127.) 

In  the  same  strain,  and  with  equal  precision,  speaks  Mr. 
Grimshawe  (the  excellent  editor  of  Cowper's  Works),  in 
the  sixth  Lecture,  on  "  the  joy  of  the  faithful  minister  at 
Christ's  coming."  The  third  particular  in  which  this  joy 
will  consist  is  (he  says),  "  the  gathering  together  in  glory 
of  all  the  ransomed  Church  of  Christ — the  perfect  man — 
the  completeness  of  Christ  in  all  the  members  of  his  mysti- 
cal body,  elect,  sanctified,  and  finally  perfected  in  glory-— 
the  redeemed  of  every  age,  tongue,  kindred,  and  people."—* 
(Pp.  153,  154.) 

♦  Chaplain  t«  -te  Bath  Penitentiary. 


THEIR    INCONSISTENCY.  19 

One  other  quotation  from  the  eighth  Lecture,  on  "  tho 
hope  of  the  advent,  a  remedy  against  superstition,"  will 
show  the  uniformity  of  strain,  and  tlie  identity,  ahnost, 
of  expression,  in  which  all  these  pre-millennialists  speak  of 
the  simultaneous  glorification  of  the  entire  Church  at 
Christ's  appearing.  "  This  hope  (of  the  advent,  says  Mr. 
Dibdin*)  is  the  hope  constantly  set  before  the  Church  in 

the  word  of  God But  what  Church  ?  ...  It  is  all 

those  who  have  been  chosen  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world.  The  Church  ?  it  is  every  one  of  those 
who  have  been,  are,  or  shall  be  born  of  the  Spirit,  and  made 

new   creatures   in  Christ  Jesus Till  all  ivhom  the 

Father  hath  chosen  in  Christ  out  of  mankind  are  born 
again  and  justified,  the  Church  will  not  be  complete.''^ 
—(Pp.  194,  195.) 

I  make  no  apology  for  the  number  of  these  quotations ; 
each  from  a  different  witness — all  from  one  volume,  and 
that  a  recent  one — expressing,  with  a  clearness  and  a  copi- 
ousness not  to  be  misunderstood,  the  fixed  belief,  and  the 
ardent  expectation  of  those  who  are  now  looking  for  the 
coming  of  Christ  before  the  millennium.  And  what  is  it  ? 
It  is,  that  the  entire  Church  shall  appear  with  Christ  at  his 
coming ;  or,  to  take  their  own  excellent  definitions  of  the 
Church,  that  "  all  those  who  have  been  given  to  Christ  by 
the  Father  from  eternity — all  those  for  whom,  in  an  especial 
manner,  Christ  gave  himself — all  who  have  washed  their 
robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb — 
every  one  of  those  who  have  been,  are,  and  shall  be  born 
of  the  Spirit,  and  made  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus" — 
in  a  word,  "  the  completeness  of  Christ  in  all  the  members 
of  his  mystical  body,  elect,  sanctified,  and  finally  perfected 
in  glory" — all,  ail  shall  appear  with   Christ  at  his  coming, 

♦  Minister  of  West  Street  Episcopal  Chapel,  St.  Giles,  London. 


80  SECOND    CLASS — ' 

"  Scripture  positively  and  distinctly  marks  the  time  of  the 
manifestation  of  the  Church,"  thus  defined,  "  to  be/'  they 
tell  us,  "  at  the  coming  of  the  Lord." 

Well,  agreeing  with  you  cordially  in  all  tliis,  my  simple 
question  is.  What  will  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  be,  with 
whom  you  people  the  world  during  the  millennium,  and 
over  whom  you  make  the  glorified  Church  to  reign  with 
Christ?  They  cannot  belong  to  the  elected,  the  blood- 
bought,  the  regenerated,  and  justified  members  of  Christ's 
mystical  body ;  for  you  have  taken  all  these  away  from  the 
earth,  and  out  of  their  fleshly  condition,  to  appear  with 
Christ  in  glory  before  the  millennium.  If  your  statements 
are  not  hopelessly  unintelligible,  there  will  not  be  found, 
from  beginning  to  end  of  the  thousand  years,  one  of  the 
elect,  the  redeemed,  the  regenerate,  one  believer,  one  saint 
upon  earth.  Whatever  may  constitute  the  felicity  of  that 
period,  it  will  not  be  Christianity — it  will  not  be  saint- 
ship.  Christ's  coming  has  put  an  end,  by  your  own  show- 
ing, to  the  existence  of  this  upon  earth  and  in  the 
flesh. 

Will  you  fall  back,  then^  upon  the  Adamic  theory  %  You 
ought  to  do  it.  But  you  will  not.  On  opening  your 
books  again,  we  find  you  making  the  millennium  the  same 
Christian  state  that  we  expect  it  to  be.  The  Jews,  you 
say,  looking  on  their  pierced  Saviour^  will  repejit  and  be- 
lieve^ and  be  the  missionary  instruments  of  the  Gentiles' 
conversion  ;  and  you  speak  of  the  spiritual  blessedness  of 
that  period  when  "  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  tlie  knowledge 
of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea" — when  '•  the  king- 
dom and  dominion  under  the  whole  heaven  shall  be  given 
ic  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  " — when  "  men 
shall  be  blessed  in  Christ  (with  salvation,  of  coarse)  and  all 
nations  shall  call  him  blessed."* 

♦  Se'    among  others,  Bickersteth's  Guide,  passim. 


THEIR    INCONSISTENCY SUMMARY.  81 

Here,  then,  is  the  inextricable  difficulty  into  which  jour 
system  shuts  you  up  ;  and  yet  you  are  either  unaware  of 
it,  or  will  not  face  it.  You  expatiate  with  equal  confidence 
upon  two  things,  the  one  of  which  is  destructive  of  the 
other.  You  rejoice  that  Christ  will  bring  all  his  people 
with  him,  before  the  millennium.  You  no  less  rejoice  in 
the  prospect  of  a  world  peopled  with  believing  men  for  a 
thousand  years  after  his  coming !  Let  the  reader  now 
judge  with  what  clearness  pre-millennialists  perceive  the 
bearings  of  their  own  doctrine,  and  whether  the  parts  of 
that  doctrine  are  capable  of  hanging  together  as  one  con- 
sistent whole. 

We  have  thus  seen  that  Christ,  at  his  second  appearing, 
will  come  absolutely  and  numerically  "  with  all  his  saints" 
— "  them  that  are  His ;"  and  have  seen  how  remarkably 
this  is  confirmed  by  the  enthusiastic,  though  suicidal  testi- 
mony of  both  classes  of  pre-millennialists.  The  first  class, 
building  their  scheme  upon  the  admission  of  this  great 
truth,  are  thereby  driven,  as  we  have  seen,  into  extrava- 
gances which  it  was  unnecessary  to  refute,  because  they 
vanish  at  the  touch.  The  second  class,  basing  their  scheme 
upon  the  denial  of  this  truth,  seem  unable  to  want  its  in- 
spiration ;  for  thus  only  can  I  account  for  the  strain  in 
which  they  anticipate  a  prospect  which  their  system  re- 
pudiates. Does  not  this  show,  where  the  weakness  of  the 
pre-millennial  theory  lies — obliging  us  either  to  deny  the 
great  Scriptural  doctrine  of  the  completeness  of  the  Church 
at  Christ's  coming,  or  to  believe  in  a  millennium  without 
Christians  ?  And  I  venture  to  affirm,  that  from  this 
dilemma  there  is  no  possible  escape,  but  in  the  belief  which 
clears  all  up — that  Ohrisfs  second  coming  will  not  be  pre- 
millcn7iial,  that  all  the  glory  of  the  latter  day — whether  it 
be   a   definite  or  an  indefinite   period — together  with   the 


82  REPLIES    TO    THE    FOREGOING    ARGUMENT. 

final  efforts  of  the  wicked,  at  the  close  of  it,  will  precEdBj 
a7id  not  SUCCEED  the  coming  of  Christ. 

SUPPLEMENTARY    REMARKS. 

The  preceding  argument,  as  it  appeared  in  the  first 
edition  of  this  work,  has  drawn  forth  a  number  of  replies, 
particularly  from  Mr.  Bickersteth,  the  Duke  of  Manchester, 
and  Mr.  A.  Bonar;  answers  which,  in  my  judgment,  ex- 
pose the  weakness  of  the  pre-millennial  system,  and  the 
looseness  of  Scripture  interpretation  which  it  necessitates, 
more  effectually  than  most  of  the  arguments  employed  to 
refute  it.  They  all  distinguish  between  "  the  Bride  of  the 
I/amb,"  and  the  whole  number  of  the  saved ;  affirming  that 
the  one  will  be  complete  at  his  coming,  but  the  other  not. 
Each,  however,  has  his  own  way  of  reconciling  his  readers 
to  this  conclusion. 

Mr.  Bickersteth  explains,  that  by  "  the  Church,"  which 
is  to  appear  as  a  complete  and  corporate  body  with  Christ 
at  his  coming,  he  meant,  not  all  the  saved,  but  only  a  pe- 
culiar portion  of  them,  called  '  the  bride,  the  assembly  of 
the  first-born,  the  kings  and  priests  unto  God,  the  city  ;' 
"whose  privilege  is  distinct  and  peculiar — not  holiness 
and  blessedness  merely^  but  these  in  a  peculiar  form."  And 
who  are  to  constitute  this  peculiar  portion  of  the  saved  ? 
All  who  have  bdieved  up  to  the  commencement  of  the  millen- 
nium. These  alone  are  the  mystical  body  of  Christ.  But 
after  they  are  completed,  at  the  second  advent  the  earth 
will  be  peopled  by  "  nations  of  the  saved"  in  flesh  and 
blood — friends,  companions,  servants  of  the  Bridegroom — 
a  totally  different  party  from  the  then  glorified  Bride.  But 
in  what  respect  different  1  The  answer  is,  that  though 
they  have  "  holiness  and  blessedness,"  they  have  '^  merely''^ 
that — they  have  it  not  in  "  the  peculiar  form"  of  union  to 
Christ  as  hig  mystical  body  or  bride.     If  one  should  ask 


MR.  BICKERSTETH DUKE    OF    MANCHESTER.  83 

egain,  what  other  union  there  is  of  sinners  to  Christ,  but 
as  "  members  of  his  body,  of  his  flesh,  and   of  his  bones" 
(Eph.  V.  30),  the  answer  we  get  is  a  little  startling  : — 
'•  There  may  be  (says  Mr.  Bickersteth),  and  doubtless  are^ 

A  THOUSAND  STAGES  AND  VARIETIES  OF  UNION  WITH  ChRIST, 
DISTINGUISHABLE  FROM  THE  GLORl  OF  THE  ChURCH  OF  THE 
FIRST-BORN," 

After  this,  we  need  not  of  course  wonder  to  find  the 
Adamic  variety  among  the  multitudinous  types  of  millen- 
nial humanity — the  curious  Mosaic  which  is  to  adorn  the 
new  earth.    Accordingly,  Mr.  Bickersteth  thus  proceeds : — 

"  In  the  first  place,  an  Adamic  state  of  innocence  is  not, 
as  is  unguardedly  said  (he  refers  to  Dr.  M'Neile),  infinitely 
inferior  to  Christian  union  with  God  ;  for  it  is  a  real  union 
and  like  that  of  unfallen  angels  in  kind,  though  a  little 
lower  in  form."  "  In  every  human  household  (he  after- 
wards says)  there  are  usually  four  parties — the  bridegroom 
and  bride,  friends  Sind  servants.''^* 

The  Duke  of  Manchester  limits  the  mystical  body  of 
Christ  still  farther — excluding  from  it  not  only  all  the 
saints  who  are  to  live  after  the  second  advent,  but  also  all 
who  lived  before  theirs/  advent,  or  rather  prior  to  the  as- 
cension of  Christ. 

"  The  gifts  (he  says)  necessary  for  forming  the  Christ 
mystical  were  not  conferred  until  after  the   ascension  of 

Jesus We  could  not,  therefore,  say  with  propriety 

that  the  Church  under  former  dispensations  was  '  Christ.' 

The  Bride  is  the  New   Jerusalem Now  the  great 

glory  of  the  New  Jerusalem  is,  that  it  is  the  abode  of 
Deity.  But  for  the  believer  to  be  a  habitation  of  God,  is 
the  peculiar  glory  of  the  dispensation  founded  by  the  apoa- 

♦  The  Divine  Warning  to  the  Church  at  this  Time.  Fourth  Edition 
1846.  It  is  from  Part  IV.,  Ch,  III.,  "  Answers  to  some  objections,' 
wlxicli  is  in  reply  to  myself  that  I  quote,  pp.  310,  &^G* 


84  REPLIES  TO  THE  FOREGOING  ARGUMENT. 

ties,  according  to  the  promisej  '  He  dwelleth  with  you,  and 
shall  be  in  you.'  " 

In  what  state  his  Grace  expects  the  Old  Testament  saints 
to  be,  when  they  rise  from  the  dead  to  inherit  Canaan 
during  the  millennium,  as  he  expects  them  to  do — I  scarcely 
know.  Probably  he  distinguishes  between  m-ere  resurrec- 
tion and  glorification,  and  that  inhabiialioii  of  Deity  which 
he  makes  the  distinguishing  privilege  of  believers  under 
this  dispensation.* 

Mr.  Bonar  differs  materially  from  both  these  authors 
According  to  him,  the  millennial  saints,  will  be  saints  in 
the  same  sense  as  all  other  saints,  whether  under  this  dis- 
pensation or  before  it.  The  only  difference  will  be  in  their 
external  circumstances.  Having  none  of  the  trials  of  pre- 
ceuing  saints,  they  will  not  attain  to  the  dignity,  reserved 
exclusively  for  tried  Christians,  of  being  the  Bride  of 
Christ. 

"  All  saints  (says  he)  redeemed  amid  toil  and  tempta- 
tion, and  sorrow  and  warfare,  shall  form  the  Bride  at 
the  Lord's  coming  ;  and  this  Bride  shall  reign  with  him 
a  thousand  years.  Then,  as  to  the  saints  who  shall  people 
earth  during  these  thousand  years,  they  are  as  really 
saints,  and  as  simply  dependent  on  this  Head,  as  any  of 
those  already  in  glory.  As  to  state,  character,  and  modes 
of  spiritual  life,  they  are  not  saints  of  another  stamp  from 
those  of  the  Patriarchal,  Jewish,  and  Grentile  days;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  they  are  converted  as  they  were,  live  by  faith 
as  they  did,  war  with  their  own  corruptions  as  they,  and 
hang  on  Christ  alone  to  the  last.  It  is  only  their  circum- 
stances that  are  different  from  former  saints.  They  live 
during  these  millennial  da3^s  with  scarcely  any,  or  rather 
with  no  opposition  at  all;  without  persecution,  and  with- 

*  The  Finished  Mystery.    Appendix:  "  Examination  of  Mr.  IJrown'3 
Work  on  the  Second  Adven:,"  pp.  284-288. 


MR.    A.    BONAR.  83 

out  Satan's  temptations,  for  he  is  bound.  It  seems  good, 
therefore,  to  the  sovereign  Grod  to  make  a  difference  be- 
tween them   and  those  that  lived   not  in  millennial   days. 

The    children    of    the    millennium    shall    be   our 

children."  .  .  .  But  ''  children  are  not  different  in  nature 
from  the  parents.  We  wholly  reject  all  theories  about  an 
Adamic  race,  or  any  thing  similar  ;  we  maintain  that  the 
children  of  that  age  shall  be  found  in  the  miry  clay  by 
the  sovereign  God  ;  converted  by  his  Holy  Spirit ;  led  to 
see  sin  and  the  Saviour,  as  we  do  ;  sanctified,  probably  far 
more  rapidly  and  thoroughly,  yet  still  by  the  same  Spirit, 
through  the  Word,  and  so  prepared  for  a  future  eternity."  * 

What  fantastic  and  bewildering  speculations  are  these  ! 
How  opposed  to  the  general  strain  of  Scripture  ;  how  desti- 
tute even  of  the  semblance  of  support ;  how  alien  from  any 
thing  that  would  occur  to  an  ordinary  reader  of  the  Bible  ; 
how  contrary  to  the  belief  of  all  churches,  and  the  judg- 
ment of  all  commentators,  from  the  beginning  ;  and,  as  now 
put  forward  by  the  advocates  of  the  pre-millennial  theory, 
how  manifestly  are  they  suggested  by  the  necessities  of  a 
system  !  A  few  sentences  on  each  of  the  three  forms  in 
which  this  alleged  distinction  between  "  the  Bride^^  and 
the  whole  number  of  the  saved  is  exhibited,  in  the  ex- 
tracts which  I  have  given,  will  suffice  to  justify  these 
reflections. 

1.  As  the  Duke  of  Manchester  is  aware  that  he  stands 
almost  alone  among  his  brethren,  in  excluding  all  who 
lived  before  the  ascension  of  Christ  from  the  privileges  of 
'•  the  Bride,"  "  the  New  Jerusalem,"  "  Christ "  mystical, 
"the  body  of  Christ,"  I  shall  merely  say  of  his  scheme, 
that  it  is  founded  on  most  untenable  and  dangerous  views 
of  the  difference  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment dispensations.      Where  the  real  difference  lies  is  one 

♦  Redemption,  &c.,  pp.  124,  &c. 
H 


86  REMARKS    ON 

of  the  oldest  questions  in  the  Christian  Church  ;  "but 
while  orthodox  men  have  slightlj'  differed  in  their  mode  of 
conceiving  the  characteristics  of  the  two  economies,  they 
have  ever  entertained  a  common  jealousy  against  those  low 
views  of  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  which  would  go 
to  strip  it  of  all  spiritual  vitality^  or  make  salvation  pos- 
sible by  merely  external  operations  of  the  Spirit.  In  these 
low  views,  when  fully  carried  out,  a  Manichean  tincture 
was  early  detected  ;  they  were  opposed  as  heretical ;  their 
defenders  all  along  have  been,  for  the  most  part,  men  other- 
wise unsound  :  and  although  there  have  been  from  time 
to  time  divines,  sound  in  the  main,  who — either  not  per- 
ceiving the  full  effect  of  their  own  statements,  or  not  taking 
sufficiently  inward  and  ethical  conceptions  of  certain  truths, 
or  from  kindred  causes — have  approached  too  closely  to 
the  views  of  those  with  whom,  in  other  things,  they  have 
no  sympathy,  we  cannot  consent,  in  deference  to  them,  to 
give  up  the  essential  OTiencss  of  the  Church  and  'people  of  God 
under  both  dispensations,  or  admit  any  such  difference  be- 
tween them  as  to  require,  or  even  to  tolerate,  the  exclusion 
of  all  the  Old  Testament  saints  from  the  glory  which  is  pre- 
pared for  those  of  our  dispensation.*  Why,  instead  of  a 
question  whether  they  are  to  share  with  us.  the  whole  strain 

*  His  Grace  refers  to  Archdeacon  Hare  in  support  of  his  distinction, 
who  quotes  a  long  passage  from  Olshausen,  concluding  with  this  state- 
ment that  as  "the  special  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  regeneration," 
therefore  "regeneration  belongs  essentially  to  the  New  Testament,  be- 
cause under  this  dispensation  the  Holy  Ghost  first  manifested  his  specific 
power."— {Missio7i  of  the  Comforter,  ii.  492.)  Whether  the  Archdeacon 
meant  to  extend  his  approval  of  the  extract  thus  far  (in  the  face  of  John 
iii.  6,  7,  10,  &c.),  is  doubtful,  from  what  follows.  But,  be  this  as  it  may, 
I  am  not  disposed,  in  a  point  of  this  nature,  to  consider  either  Hare,  ot 
his  author  unexceptionable  expositors  of  the  general  mind  of  the  Church 
— much  as  I  admire  the  freshness,  the  power,  the  learning,  and  the  ver- 
satility of  the  one,  and  highly  as  I  value  the  subtle,  penetrating,  and 
spiritual,  though  vejy  German,  mind  of  the  other. 


THE    DUKE    OF    MANCHESTER'S    SCHEME.  87 

of  the  New  Testament  language  goes  merely  to  show  that 
we  shall  not  be  excluded  from  sharing  with  them — that  we 
shall  come  from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  and  sit 
down  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  (not  they  with  us) 
in  the  kingdom  of  God.— (Matt.  viii.  11.)  True,  "They 
without  us  could  not  be  made  perfect"  (Heb.  xi.  40) — that 
is,  without  Christ  and  the  Spirit,  whose  proper  economy 
ours  certainly  is  ;  but  as  this  manifestly  implies  that  with 
us  they  have  all  the  perfection  which  we  have — that  with 
Christ  to  save  and  the  Spirit  to  sanctify  them,  which  they 
got  anticipatively  from  our  dispensation,  they  are  in  all 
respects  on  a  par  with  us — there  is  not  a  shadow  of  ground 
for  excluding  the  Old  Testament  saints  from  the  glory  pre- 
pared for  those  of  our  dispensation.* 

♦  Istnd— says  Calvin,  who,  on  the  Christology  of  the  Old  Testament, 
occupied  what  many  would  term  low  ground— quoque  scitissiiue  eodem 
loco  subjungit  (Augustinus),  pertinere  ab  initio  niundi  ad  Novum  Testa- 
mentum  filios  promissionis,  regeneratos  a  Deo,  qui  fide  per  dilectioneni 
operante  obedierunt  mandatis,  Idque  in  spe  non  carnalium,  terrenorum, 
temporalium,  sed  spiritualium,  coelestium,  aeternorum  bonorum,  prae- 
cipue  credentes  in  Mediatorem  :  per  quem  non  dubitarunt  et  Spiritum 
sibi  administrari,  ut  benefacerent,  et  ignosci,  quoties  peccarent.  Id  enim 
ipsum  est  quod  asserere  in  animo  fuit,  ejusdeiii  nobiscum  benedictionis 
in  BBternam  salutem  consortes  fuisse  omnes  sanctos,  quos  ab  exordio 

mundi  peculiariter  a  Deo  selectos  Scriptura  commemorat 

Atque  hie  quoque  de  Sanctis  Patribus  annotandum  est,  ita  sub  Veteri 
Testamento  vixisse,  ut  non  illic  restiterint,  sed  aspirarint  semper  ad 
Novum,  adeoque  certam  ejus  communionem  amplexi  sint. — Insiit. 
Christ.  Rdig.  Lib.  ii.  cap.  xi.  10. 

Nos  omnes  de  plenitudine  ejus  accepimus.  Quid — exclaims  Augustin— 
est,  Noso7nnes?  Ergo  Patriarchae,  et  Prophetae  et  Apostoli  Sancti,  vel  ante 
incarnation^m  praemissi  vel  ab  Incarnato  missi,  omnes  nos  de  plenitu- 
dine ejus  accepimus.  Nos  vasa  sumus,  lUe  fons  est. — Serm.  cclxxxix.  5. 
Ipsum  (Christum)  martyres  in  manifesto  confess!  sunt,  quem  tunc 
Machabsei  confessi  sunt,*  mprtui  sunt  isti  pro  Ciiristo  in  evangelio  rev- 
elato;  mortui  sunt  illi  pro  Christi  nomine  in  lege  velato.  Christus  habet 
utrosque,  Christus  pugnantes  adjuvit  utrosque,  Christus  corona vit  utros* 
que,— (Serm.  ccc.  5. 

*  This  Sermon  was  i-jlivered  at  the  festival  of  the  \  v'lcabean  martyrs. 


88  REMARKS    ON 

2.  Mr.  Bickersteth's  "  thousand  stages  and  varieties  of 
union  with  Christ" — for  poor  sinners  of  mankind — defy 
comment.  Happily,  however,  they  do  not  need  it.  The 
only  wonder  is,  that  speculations  so  out  of  the  line  of  all 
that  is  sober,  on  such  a  subject  as  union  to  Christ,  and 
language  which  even  the  author  himself  would  find  it 
hard  to  explain,  should  be  hazarded  by  one  so  distinguished 
for  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ.  The  reader, 
however,  when  he  comes  to  our  chapter  on  the  "  Resur- 
rection," will  find  this  esteemed  minister  laying  down  posi- 
tions quite  as  startling  and  repulsive  as  this.  And  when 
he  finds  that  even  these  novel  and  unsavoury  speculations 
are  advocated,  as  clearly  revealed  truths  of  Scripture,  by 
one  of  the  acutest  and  most  forcible  writers  on  that 
side — 3Ir.  Birks — and  by  a  writer  of  considerable  pow- 
er and  some  reading  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic — 
Mr.  Lord;  when,  moreover,  he  considers  how  difl&cult 
it  is  for  those  who  would  work  out  the  pre-millennial 
scheme  to  avoid  being  driven  into  conclusions  of  this  na- 
ture, he  will  see  afresh  what  a  wedge  this  system  is, 
upheaving,  when  introduced  into  the  text  of  Scripture, 
almost  every  thing  which  has  hitherto  been  regarded  as 
most  fixed  and  sacred — all  that  has  been  "most  surely 
believed  among  us." 

Before  passing  from  Mr.  Bickersteth  here,  I  will  give 
one  brief  illustration  of  the  extreme  slenderness  of  the 
ground  on  which  he  rests  the  weightiest  conclusions.  "  In 
every  human  household  (he  says)  or  marriage,  there  are 
usually  four  parties — the  bridegroom,  the  bride,  friends, 
and  servants ;"  and  if  we  do  not  admit  as  many  "  varieties^'' 
at  least  of  '•'•  union  with  Christ,"  we  are  charged  with  "  not 
only  crossing  many  express  statements,  but  every  lesson  of 
analogy."  Now,  let  us  see  what  conclusions  this  will  bring 
out  of  a  single  passage  of  Scripture :     "  He  thai  hath  the 


MR.    BICKERSTETH  S    THEORY.  09 

Bride,"  said  the  Baptist,  "  is  the  Briciegroom ;  but  the 
Friend  of  the  Bridegroom^  which  standeth  and  heareth  him, 
rejoicelh  greatlj'  because  of  the  Bridegroom's  voice  ;  this  my 
joy,  therefore,  is  fulfilled." — (John  iii.  29.)*  According  to 
Mr.  Bickersteth's  way  of  viewing  such  language,  the  poor 
Baptist  will  not  be  of  '•  the  Bride"  at  all.  TJiough  "  the 
first  resurrection,"  and  the  millennial  glory  of  the  risen 
saints,  is  said  to  be  specially  designed  for  suffering  believers, 
this  rare  example  of  fidelity,  humility,  love  to  the  Saviour, 
and  self-sacrifice,  will  not  be  found  in  that  class  at  all,  but 
be  seen  on  the  lower  platform  appropriated  to  the  '■''friends'^ 
of  the  Bridegroom  !  At  this  rate  the  wise  virgins  who 
went  forth  to  meet  the  Bridegroom  in  the  parable  (Matt. 
XXV.),  represent  not  those  who  are  to  be  "  the  Bride"  at 
bis  coming,  but  those  who  merely  attend  the  nuptials  as 
"  friends ;"  and  those  who  are  invited  to  the  marriage- 
supper  (Matt,  xxii.),  though  clothed  with  the  wedding- 
garment,  are,  on  this  principle,  to  be  held  as  representing  a 

•  The  Jews  thought  to  kindle  in  the  Baptist  a  jealousy  of  his  Master — 
as  one  who  was  requiting  thp  generous  testimony  he  had  borne  to  him 
by  drawing  all  his  disciples  away  to  himself.  The  reply  of  that  blessed 
servant  and  martyr  of  Jesus,  in  the  words  above  quoted,  I  have  always 
thought  to  be  one  of  the  most  glorious  and  affecting  of  human  utterances, 
and  perhaps  beyond  all  the  testimonies  that  ever  were  borne  to  Christ. 
'The  Bride  is  not  mine — why  should  the  people  stay  with  me?  Ye 
yourselves  bear  me  witness  that  I  said,  I  am  not  the  Christ :  mine  it  is 
to  point  the  guilty  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world — to  tell  them  There  is  Balm  in  Gilead,  and  a  Physician  there;  and 
shrill  I  grudge  to  see  them,  in  obedience  to  the  call,  flying  as  a  cloud,  and 
as  doves  to  their  windows?  Whose  is  the  Bride,  but  the  Bridegiooni's? 
Enough  for  me  to  be  the  Bridegroom's  fiiend — sent  by  him  to  negotiate 
the  match— privileged,  as  an  humble  instrument,  to  bring  together  the 
SaMour  and  the  souls  he  is  come  to  Beek  and  to  save,  and  rejoicing  with 
joy  unspeakable  to  stand  by  and  witne.es  the  blessed  espousi^ls.  Say  yoU; 
then,  they  go  from  me  to  Him?  You  bring  me  g'ad  tidings  of  great 
joy  ;  for  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decn  ase :  This  my  joy,  therefore^ 
is  fulfilled!' 

H  2 


90  REMARKS    ON 

distinct  class  altogether  from  those  called  "  the  Bride."  I 
cannot  persuade  myself  that  the  author  would  accept 
these  conclusions.  But  why  not  ?  and  where  shall  we  be  if 
we  are  thus  to  explain  the  figures  of  Scripture  ?  Who  does 
not  see  that  the  Baptist  called  himself  "  the  friend  of  the 
Bridegroom"  not  to  express  his  personal^  but  his  official 
standing  in  relation  to  Christ  ?  and  that  the  same  believers 
are  termed  "  the  virgins"  in  respect  of  their  call  to  be 
ready  for  Christ's  coming — the  ^^  guests"  at  the  marriage- 
supper,  in  respect  of  the  fellowship  they  hold  with 
him — and  "  the  bride"  in  respect  of  their  intimate  and 
endearing  union  to  him.  In  vain,  then,  are  endless 
"  varieties  of  union  with  Christ"  drawn  out  of  such  figu- 
rative language,  and  wonderful  it  is,  that  from  premises  so 
very  slender  such  mighty  conclusions  should,  by  any  sober 
writer,  be  drawn. 

3.  Mr.  Bonar's  theory  of  the  distinction  between  the 
Bride  and  the  whole  number  of  the  saved,  has  not  certainly 
the  repulsive  appearance  of  the  other  theories  we  have  been 
noticing.  He  admits  that  the  Christians  who  are  to  people 
the  earth  after  Christ  has  descended  to  it  with  his  completed 
Bride,  will,  like  ourselves,  "  be  found  in  the  miry  clay  by 
the  sovereign  God,  be  converted  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  led  to 
see  sin  and  the  Saviour — [Why  does  he  not  add,  united  to 
Kim  by  faith,  as  we  are  ?'] — sanctified  probably  far  more 
rapidly  and  thoroughly,  yet  still  by  the  same  Spirit,  through 
the  word,  and  so  prepared  for  a  future  eternity."  It  is 
something  to  get  footing  like  this — to  get  a  Christianity 
that  one  can  understand — for  the  millennium.  Nor  will  I 
disturb  it  by  asking,  just  now,  how  this  Christianity  is  to 
be  produced  in  sinful  men,  with  Christ  in  glory  before  their 
eyes,  and  "  the  righteous  shining  forth  as  the  sun"  in  their 
very  presence.  Waiving  this  for  the  present — the  follow- 
ing very  obvious   remarks   are   enough  to  show  that  the 


MR.  sonar's  view.  91 

theory  which  Mr.  Bonar  propounds  is  without  any  solid 
foundation,  and  is  opposed  to  the  whole  current  of  Scrip 
ture. 

(1.)  When  Christ's  people  are  termed  his  "Bride,"  his 
"  Spouse" — when  they  are  said  to  be  "  espoused"  and 
"  married"  to  him — in  a  word,  when  conjugal  relations,  in- 
tercourse, and  affections  are  employed  to  set  forth  what  sub- 
sists between  Him  and  them, — who,  until  now,  ever  doubted 
that  a  union  common  to  all  believers  is  intended  ?  And  on 
what  principle  can  it  be  maintained  that  the  term  "  Bride'^ 
is  meant  to  point,  not  to  that  internal,  vital  union  to  Christ 
which  is  common  to  all  who  shall  ever  believe  in  him,  but  to 
special  privileges  peculiar  to  one  class  of  them  ? 

(2.)  As  the  union  of  all  believers  to  Christ  is  the  same 
as  to  its  essence,  so  the  future  glori/  of  them  all  alike  is 
represented  as  flowing  from  that  union,  and  not  from  any 
external  circumstances  in  which  they  may  differ  from  each 
other.  Is  it  necessary  to  give  proofs  of  what  is  so  mani- 
fest ? 

"  Thou  hast  given  thy  Son  power  over  all  flesh,"  said  Jesus  to  his 
Father,  "  that  he  should  give  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  thou 
hast  given  him.  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast 
given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that  they  may  behold  my 
glory,"  &c. — (John  xvii.  2-24.) 

Here,  all  the  elect  get  eternal  life  from  Christ's  hands — 
will  any  that  ever  shall  believe  in  him  get  less  ?  But  here, 
also,  Christ  wills  that  the  same  elect  company  be  with  him 
where  he  is,  to  behold  his  glory — and  can  any  class  of  be- 
lievers have  more  ? 

'*  This  is  the  Father's  will  which  hath  sent  me,  that  of  all  which 
he  hath  given  me  1  should  lose  nothing,  but  should  raise 
it  up  again  at  the  last  day.  No  man  can  come  to  me,  except 
the  Father,  which  hath  sent  tt'3,  draw  him :  and  I  will  raise 


©2  REMARKS    ON 

him  up  at  the  last  day.  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh,  and 
drinketh  my  hlood,  hath  eternal  life ;  and  I  will  raise  him 
up  at  the  last  day.  He  that  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drink- 
eth my  blood,  dw  elleth  in  me,  and  I  in  him."— (John  vi.  39, 
44,  54,  56.) 

Who  that  reads  these  words  can  doubt  that  the  elect — 
drawn  to  Christ  by  common  supernatural  grace,  one  with 
Him  in  common,  by  mutual  inhabitation  through  the 
Spirit,  and  thus  saved  with  a  '-  common  salvation"  ( Jude  3), 
are  destined  to  partake  in  common  of  the  resurrection, 
life,  and  glory  of  their  Head  ?  "  The  glory  which  thougavest 
me  I  have  given  them,  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are 
cne.^^ — (John  xvii.  22.) 

"Whom  he  did  foreknow,"  says  Paul,  "he  also  did  predestinate 
to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son,  that  he  might  be 
the  first-born  among  many  brethren,  [in  resurrection  and 
glo?-y  surely,  as  well  as  every  thing  else.]  Moreover  whom 
he  did  predestinate  [the  whole  company  of  the  elect],  them 
he  also  called ;  and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified  ; 
and  whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified.  If  any  man 
[during  the  millennium  surely,  as  well  as  at  any  other  time] 
have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his.  But  if  the 
Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwell  in 
you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead  shall  also  quicken 
your  mortal  bodies  by  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you."^ 
(Rom.  viii.  29,30;  9,  11.) 

But  why  go  on  ?  Who  can  read  the  New  Testament,  and 
fail  to  see  that  all  the  life,  and  glory,  and  fellowship  with 
the  Lamb,  which  any  believers  shall  ever  have,  is  made  to 
flow  from  the  common  oneness  of  all  believers  with  Christ, 
as  Head  of  his  body  the  Church,  and  not  from  the  mere 
"  external  circumstances"  which  may  distinguish  one  clasa 
of  them  from  another  ? 

Not  only  is  there  no  ground  for  any  such  distinction, 
but  the   passages  which,  by   a  palpable  misconception  of 


MR.  bonar's  view.  93 

them,  are  adduced  in  support  of  it,  prove  just  the  reverne. 
For  example  : — 

^^  If  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  to- 
gether,"— (Rom.  viii.  17.) 
'■'■Ijwe  suffer,  we  shall  also  reign  with  him." — (2  Tim.  ii.  12.) 

Who  does  not  see  that  in  these  passages  it  is  not  suffer- 
ing  as  opposed  to  unsuffering  Christians,  but  true  Chris- 
tians as  opposed  to  false^  that  are  here  described  ?  In  the 
one  passage,  we  have  but  to  read  the  whole  verse  to  see 
this  at  once  : — 

"If  children,  then  heirs,  heirs  of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ; 
if  so  be  that  we  suflfer  with  him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified 
together." 

Shall  we  say  that  the  latter  clause  of  this  verse  is  in- 
tended to  limit  the  former  ?  and  that  the  apostle's  meaning 
is,  that  not  all  the.  children  of  God  are  heirs  of  God  and 
co-heirs  with  Christ,  but  only  such  of  them  as  suffer  with 
him?  As  well  might  we  say  that  in  the  first  verse  of 
this  chapter,  when  the  apostle  says — 

"  There  is  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who 
walk  not  after  the  flesh  but  after  the  Spirit," 

he  means  that  not  aU  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus  are  freed 
from  condemnation,  but  only  such  of  them  as  walk  in  the 
Spirit.* ,  The  other  passage  shows  this  even  more  clearly^ 
when,  instead  of  only  the  one-half,  we  read  the  whole  of  it : 

"  If  we  suffer,  we  shall  also  reign  with  him  ;  if  we  deny  him,  he 
also  will  deny  us." 

Here  are  not  two  kinds  of  Christians — suffering  and  un- 
suffering Christians — both  genuine ;  but  true  Christianity 

*  The  second  clause  of  both  verses  is  what  the  critics  call  epexegetU 
eal,  and  not  restrictive,  of  the  former— designed  to  characterise  the  per- 
sons mentioned  in  the  first  clause. 


94  REMARKS    ON 

distinguished  from  false,  by  '•  fellowship  in  Christ's  Buffer 
ings,  and  conformity  to  his  death,"  as  the  indispensable  pre- 
lude to  participation  in  his  glory  and  reign. 

Alas  for  the  system  which  would  set  up  a  Christianity 
for  the  millennium,  shorn  of  this  essential  characteristic, 
— which  would  represent  it  as  the  same  thing  in  its  essence 
with  the  Christianity  now  existing,  and  that  is  depicted  in 
the  New  Testament,  yet  stripped  of  what  the  apostle  holds 
up  as  part  and  parcel  of  it !  If  these  millennial  Chris- 
tians are  to  bask  in  such  inward  and  outward  sunshine,  as 
to  be  strangers  to  "  suffering  with  Christ,"  call  them 
not  Christians  in  our — or  rather  in  the  New  Testament — • 
sense  of  the  term ;  but  if  "  suffering  with  Christ"  is  to  be 
common  to  them  with  us,  notwithstanding  the  propitious 
circumstances  by  which  they  will  be  surrounded — why  are 
they  not  to  be  "  glorified  together,"  with  their  living 
Head,  according  to  the  indissoluble  connexion  which 
the  matchless  wisdom  of  the  mediatorial  system  has  es- 
tablished ?  It  is  impossible  to  answer  these  questions,  or 
evade  the  alternatives  which  they  offer.     Once  moro, 

3.  Let  the  vastness  of  the  separation  in  eternal  destiny^ 
which  this  theory  makes  between  those  ChristiaLS  whom 
they  style  "  The  Bride,"  and  the  rest  of  the  saved,  be  ob- 
served, and  its  amazing  unscripturalness,  and  purely  fanci- 
ful character,  will  strike  at  once  the  thoughtful  mind. 

"  This  elect  body  (says  Mr.  Bonar)  of  believers  before  the 
millennium  is  the  Bride,  and  shall  be  complete  at  the  Lord's  com- 
ing. Not  on-e  oilier  shall  be  added  to  this  body  after  the  Lord's  coming 
—not  oner— {V.  123.) 

He  does  not  say  that  those  living  after  this  shall  join  the 
Bride,  and  merge  into  that  blessed  company,  when  the 
thousand  years  are  over — he  does  not  say  that  their  acces- 
sion to  this  body  shall  be  merely  postponed  till  the  everlast- 
ing state  arrive.     He  knows  well  that  he  has  not  a  ra^  of 


MR.    BONAR  S    VIEW,  95 

Scripture  for  such  an  expectation — every  text  relating  to 
the  resurrection  and  glorification  of  believers  at  all  being 
applied  by  him,  and  those  who  held  his  system,  to  a  resur- 
rection before  the  millennium.  For  aught  that  Scripture 
says,  therefore — on  his  way  of  explaining  it — those  be- 
lievers who  are  to  people  the  earth  after  the  second  advent 
must  remain  for  ever  apart  from  that  "  Bride  that  shall  be 
complete  at  the  Lord's  coming — to  which  not  one  shall  be 
added  after  his  coming — not  one."  What  though  there 
be  myriads  of  men  during  the  millennium,  snatched  by 
sovereign  grace  out  of  the  miry  clay,  and  "  prepared  "  by 
the  Word  and  Spirit  of  Jesus  "  /or  a  future  eternity  ?" 
Over  that  future  eternity  a  dark  veil  is  drawn ;  for  his 
system  has  710  Scripture  for  bringing  them  ever  out  of  the 
fleshly  and  imperfect  state  which  it  assigns  to  them  upon 
earth  during  the  millennium.* 

Now  this  seems  to  me  quite  as  irrational  as  the  other 
theories  I  have  noticed.  The  objection  to  them  was,  that 
it  made  saintship,  for  sinners  of  mankind,  a  different 
thing  under  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament — a  diiferent 
thing  before  the  millennium  and  after  it.  The  objection  to 
this  theory  is,  that  while  it  makes  saintship  in  every  ago 
the  same  things  it  makes  the  everlasting  condition  and 
issues    of   that    saintship  a  vastly  different  thing   in    twa 


♦  Perhaps  it  will  be  said,  What  if  this  should  be  but  one  example  of 
the  dlferent  degrees  of  glory  which  all  believe  there  will  be  in  the  future 
state  among  the  people  of  God  1  The  answer  is  obvious.  This  is  con- 
founding differences  of  degree  with  those  of  kind.  Degrees  in  glory 
have  always  been  understood  to  mean  simply  higher  and  lower  measures 
of  one  and  the  same  state  of  glory.  But  it  is  an  abuse  of  languagn — in  its 
universally  understood  sense — to  apply  such  phraseology  to  the  mighty 
distinction  which  Mr.  Bickersteth's  theory  makes  between  "  the  com- 
pleted bride"  associated  with  Christ  in  his  glory  and  reign,  and  (hose 
left  unglorified  on  the  earth,  in  a  state  of  abiding  subjection  to  the  mors 
&voured  portion. 


96  REMARKS    ON 

classes  of  believers — those  living  before,  and  those  living 
dming^  the  millennium  ;  and  to  ground  this  upon  a  mere 
difference  in  their  "  external  circumstaiices " — what  is  it 
but  to  confound  what  is  essential  with  what  is  accidenlal — 
as  if  the  glorious  oneness  of  the  whole  body  of  believers 
with  Christ,  in  his  death  and  resurrection,  in  his  humilia- 
tion and  glory,  had  less  virtue  to  bring  them  all  together  with 
their  adorable  Head,  to  grace  his  second  appearing — than 
the  adventitious  diversity  of  their  outward  circumstances  to 
separate  them  from  each  other  at  that  bright,  transporting 
day? 

But  what,  after  all,  are  those  "  external  circumstances " 
on  which  such  vast  stress  is  laid,  as  distinguishing  the  Chris- 
tians of  the  millennium  from  all  other  Christians  ?  "  They 
live,"  says  Mr.  Bonar,  "  during  these  millennial  days,  with 
scarcely  any,  or  rather  with  no  external  opposition  at  all ; 
without  persecution,  and  without  Satan's  temptations,  for 
he  is  bound."  Are  "  external  opposition  and  persecution," 
then,  so  bound  up  with  Christianity  as  it  now  exists,  that  it 
cannot  be  real  without  them — that  a  Christian,  whose  outward 
lot  is  uniformly  tranquil  and  unruffled,  though  it  may  be  a 
millennial  phenomenon,  is  one  hitherto  unheard  of — that 
there  can  be  no  living  by  faith  now^  no  walking  in  the  nar- 
row way,  no  crucifying  of  the  flesh  and  Iking  in  the  spirit, 
no  occupying  till  Christ  come — nothing,  in  short,  of  living 
connexion  with  Christ  now,  that  shall  give  assurance  of 
appearing  with  him  in  glory,  unless  "  outward  opposition 
and  persecution"  be  superadded  ?  Are  not  battles  inly 
fought,  and  unseen  victories  won,  in  the  sphere  of  the  hid- 
den life,  which,  in  that  Eye  that  looketh  not  upon  the  out- 
ward appearance  but  upon  the  heart,  are  brighter  manifes- 
tations of  the  grace  that  bringeth  salvation  than  many  a 
martyrdom  ? 


MR.    BONAR  S    VIEW.  91 

"  Nor  think  who  to  that  bliss  aspire, 
Must  win  their  way  through  blood  and  fire ; 
The  writhings  of  a  wounded  heart 
Are  fiercer  than  a  foeman's  dart."* 

If  this  be  granted,  even  in  one  case,  the  ground  of  dis- 
tinction, as  far  as  that  goes,  is  given  up.  This  is  so  mani- 
fest, that  Mr.  Burgh.,  who  takes  the  same  view  of  outward 
sufiering  as  indispensable  to  participation  in  the  "first 
resurrection,"  perceiving  that  this  will  necessarily  exclude 
many  true  Christians  from  the  millennial  reign,  limits  it 
expressly  to  those  whom  he  regards  as  suffering  Chris- 
tians. And  this  is  the  only  consistent  way  of  holding  the 
theory,  t 

Mr.  Bonar,  indeed,  mentions  another  ground  of  distinc- 
tion— the  freedom  of  millennial  Christians  "  from  Satan'o 
temptations,  for  he  is  bound."  In  a  subsequent  part  of  this 
work,  I  believe  I  shall  be  able  to  show  that  this  expecta- 
tion is  totally  unscriptural — founded  on  a  misapprehension 
of  one  single  symbolical  prediction,  contradicted  by  the 
uniform  tenor  of  Scripture,  and  at  variance  with  the  whole 
analogy  of  faith.  But  admitting  for  the  present  the  total 
absence  of  Satanic  agency  during  the  millennium — if  it  be 
allowed,  as  it  seems  to  be,  that  the  natural  heart  will  be 
the  same  then  as  now,  that  the  grace  of  God  will  find  men 
in  the  same  "  mire,"  and  be  as  illustrious  in  plucking  any 
out  of  it,  that  there  will  be  the  same  war  with  inward 
corruption  in  every  Christian,  the  same  inability  to  do 
the  things  that  they  would,  and  the  same  need  to  "  hang 
upon  Christ  alone  to  the  last,"  as  there  is  now — what  mighty 
differ  J  !ice   between  them  and  us   can  even  the  absence  of 


*   Ckrislian  Year. 

t  Ltect.  on  Revelation^  and  Led.  on  Second  Advent.  In  the  latter  work, 
Mr.  Burgh  is  pleased  to  cut  off'  from  this  class  those  who  deny  the  pre- 
millennial  advent  \    Nor  is  he  altogether  alone  in  thia. 

1 


98   SIMULTANEOUS  GLORIl  ICATION  OF  ALL  THE  ELECT 

Satan  make — what,  at  least,  that  should  sever  those  from  ua 
ii:  glory  who  share  with  us  in  our  deepest  struggles  ? 

Thus — survey  it  in  what  light  we  will,  and  on  whatever 
hypothesis  may  be  framed  to  account  for  it — the  distinction 
between  one  fortion  of  the  elect,  ransomed,  sanctified,  and 
saved  Church,  as  being  exclusively  "  the  Bride  of  the  Lamb," 
to  be  associated  with  him  in  his  glory,  and  another  portion 
of  the  same  Church,  who  are  not  to  rise  and  reign  with 
Him  when  he  comes — is  utterly  foreign  to  the  Bible  and 
fanciful  in  its  character,  unknown  to  the  faith  of  the  Church, 
and  suggested  only  by  the  necessities  of  a  system.  A  tedi- 
ous and  ungenial  work  it  has  been  to  pursue  into  the  shal- 
lows such  poor,  unfruitful  distinctions  as  have  engaged  our 
attention  in  these  supplementary  remarks.  Gladly,  there- 
fore, do  we  now  come  back  to  "  a  place  of  broad  rivers  and 
streams,"  to  repose  on  the  clear  bosom  of  such  words  as 
these : — "  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given 
me  [all  the  elect]  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that  they  may 
behold  my  glory  which  thon  hast  given  me  ;"  "  This  is  the 
Father's  will,  which  hath  sent  me,  that  of  all  which  he  hath 
given  me  I  should  lose  nothing,  but  should  raise  it  up  at 
the  last  day ;"  "  He  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints, 
and  admired  in  all  them  that  believe ;"  "  Our  gathering 
together  unto  Him  ;"  "  They  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming !" 
"  Even  so,  come.  Lord  Jesus  !"* 

♦  Since  writing  these  supplementary  remarks,  it  has  occurred  to  me 
that  some  notice  should  have  been  taken  of  those  words  on  which  many 
build  their  distinction  between  the  bride  and  the  rest  of  the  saved  : 

Rev.  xxi.  24:  "And  the  nations  [of  them  which  are  saved  *]  shall  walk  in  the 
light  of  it  (the  New  Jerusalem),  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  do  bring  their 
glory  and  honour  into  it." 

It  is  surpiising,  however,  that  r.ny thing  should  be  made  of  such  a  pas- 

*  The  words  enclosed  in  brackets  (twv  (rw^ouepuyv)  ^^^  exclmled  from  the  text 
by  all  critical  editors— by  Bengel.  Welnteii,  Griesbach,  Scholz,  Larhmann,  Tiach 
tndoify  and  Tregeiles—a&  wanting  in  MS   x  ilhority. 


^HEN    CHRIST    APPEARS.  99 

Bage.  For,  as  "the  kings  of  the  earth  bring  their  glory  and  honour 
INTO  the  New  Jerusalem,"  the  state  of  both  must  be  the  same — the 
receptacle  and  the  things  received  into  it  must  be  homogeneous.  If 
"the  kings  of  the  earth"  mean  potentates  living  in  the  flesh,  and  their 
"glory  and  honour"  mean  their  regal  wealth  and  influence,  then  "the 
New  Jerusalem  "  into  which  they  enter,  bringing  this  with  them,  must 
mean  an  earthly  state  of  the  Church.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  "New 
Jerusalem"  mean  the  glorified  state  of  the  Church,  then  "the  kings" 
who  bring  their  glory  and  honour  into  it,  cannot  mean  the  sovereigns  of 
the  earth  living  in  the  flesh,  nor  can  their  "glory  and  honour"  mean 
any  thing  earthly;  unless  "flesh  and  blood  can  inherit  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  corruption  inherit  incorruption."  Accordingly,  though  com- 
mentators are  divided  as  to  whether  the  two  last  chapters  of  Revelation 
denote  the  keatenbj  ^ate,  or  a  bright  state  of  the  Church  upon  earthy 
they  agree  in  applying  the  whole  verse  before  us  to  the  one  or  the  other 
of  these  states,  but  not  to  both.  Thus  Vitringa  and  others  apply  it  to  the 
Church  on  earth,*  despite  the  "impudence"  which  Augustin  thought 
it  would  require  to  venture  on  such  a  view  :t  while  Durham,  March,  and 
the  majority  of  commentators,  on  the  other  hand,  apply  it  to  the 
Church  in  glory,  under  the  idea  of  a  confluence  of  all  that  can  be 
conceived  of  regal  magnificence  and  grandeur  to  adorn  that  blessed 
state.} 

•  Post  longa  tempora  persecutionum,  afflictionum,  et  calamitatum 

masno  numero  implerent  novum  hanc  Civitatem  Populi  Dei,  et  ad  earn  consti- 
tuendam  et  exornandam  undique  confluerent ;  turn  quoque  Principes,  Regos,  Im- 
peratoree,  Chrislo  et  Ecclesiae  ejus  servaturi,  suam  gloriam,  majestatem,  vires,  in 
earn  inferrent ;  hoc  est,  in  ejus  converterent  usum  utilitatemque  :  &,c.—Anakris. 
ApocaJyps.  ad  loc. 

t  Nam  hoc  de  isto  tempore  accipere  quo  regnat  [ecclesia]  cum  Rege  suo  mille 
annis  impudentisB  nimiae  mihi  videtiir.    De.  Civ.  Dei.,  Lib.  xx.  cap.  xvii. 

t  Magis  placet,  quod  est  apud  Durhamum,  tantam  fore  civitatis  hiijus  gk)riam, 
ut  pra  ilia  reges  omnes  regiiorum  gloriam  deserant:  vel  quasi  omnes  reges  omnem 
Buam  conferrent,  ut  locum  su  xm  gloriosum  redderent,  sic  ut  phraxis  hsc  ad  ex- 
terni  emblemalis  decua  specteL     JUiaciUi  in  Apoc.  Comrn.  ad  loc. 


CHAPTEK  V. 

ALL  THE  MEANS  OF  GRACE,  AND  AGENCIES  OF  SALVATION, 
TERMINATE  AT  THE  SE(JOND  ADVENT. 

We  have  seen  that  the  whole  elect  and  ransomed  Church 
is  complete  when  Christ  comes.  If  this  be  correct,  we  may 
expect  to  find  the  ordained  means  for  the  gathering  and 
perfecting  of  the  Church  disappearing  from  the  stage — the 
standing  agencies  and  instrumentalities — the  whole  economy 
and  machinery  of  a  visible  Church-state — taken  out  of 
the  way.  Here  then  is  a  test — the  fairest  and  most  satis- 
factory that  can  be  imagined — by  which  to  try  the  truth 
of  our  doctrine.  Pre-millennialists  maintain  that  the 
saving  of  souls  is  to  go  on  upon  earth  after  the  Redeemer's 
second  appearing.  If  this  be  true,  we  shall  find  the  means 
of  grace  surviving  the  advent.  Whereas,  if  grace  has 
ceased  at  Christ's  coming  to  flow  from  the  fountain,  we  shall 
find  that  the  channels  for  its  conveyance  have  disappeared 
too — if  the  building  of  mercy  has  been  completed,  we  may 
expect  to  find  the  scaffolding  cleared  away. 

Beginning  then  with  the  Means — If  it  can  be  shown  that 
both  the  written  Word  and  the  sealing  ordinances  by 
which  God  ordinarily  gathers  and  perfects  the  Church — 
having  their  whole  ends  and  objects  exhausted  at  ChrisVs 
coming — shall  then  absolutely  cease  as  means  of  grace  and 
salvation  to  mankind,  I  think  it  will  be  clear  that  all  saving 
of  souls  is  then  at  an  end. 


OBJECT    OF    THE    SCRIPTURFS.  101 

What,  then,  is  the  testimony  of  Scripture  on  this  sub- 
ject ?     The  answer  to  this  question  forms 

PROPOSITION  SECOND: 

Christ's  second  coming  will  exhaust  the  object  op 
the  scriptures. 

His  coming  is  the  goal  of  all  revelation,  its  furthest 
horizon,  its  last  terminus,  its  Sabbath  and  haven.  Thither 
are  directed  all  the  anxieties  which  divine  truth  awakens. 
Every  hope  which  it  kindles  and  every  fear  which  it 
excites  instinctively  points  to  that  awful  event,  its  con- 
comitants, and  its  issues,  as  the  needle  to  the  pole.  To 
prepare  men  for  it,  as  an  event  future  to  all  whom  it 
addresses^  is  what  the  Bible  proposes,  and  positively  all 
that  it  undertakes  and  is  fitted  to  do.  The  whole  force 
of  every  reference  to  Christ's  coming  in  Scripture,  as  a 
motive  to  action,  absolutely  depends  on  its  being  a  future 
event. 

1.  Look — in  the  case  of  saints — at  all  the  incentives  to 
patience  and  hope,  to  watchfulness  and  fidelity,  to  promp- 
titude and  cheerfulness  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  drawn 
from  the  prospect  of  Christ's  coming,  and  see  if  they  would 
not  be  stript  of  all  their  power  and  all  their  point,  on  the 
supposition  of  its  being  a  'past  event,  and  as  addressed  to 
saints  living  after  it.  Take  an  example  or  two  almost  at 
random : — 

*'  Occupy  TILL  I  come y — (Luke  xix.  13.) 

"  Ye  do  well  to  take  heed  to  the  sure  word  of  prophecy,  as  unto  a 

light  that  shineth  in  a  dark  place,  until  the  day  dawn,  and  iJve 

day  star  arise  in  our  JiearLs." — (2  Pet.  i.  19.) 
"  Be  patient  therefore,  brethren,  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord." — 

(James  v.  7.) 
"  Gird  up  the  loins  of  your  mind,  bt  sober,  and  hope  to  the  end 


102  OBJECT    OF    THE    SCRIPTURES 

for  the  grace  that  is  to  be  brought  unto  you  at  the  revelation 
of  Jesus  Christ."— (1  Pet.  i.  13.) 

"  The  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  the  crown  of  right- 
eousness at  that  day  to  all  them  that  love  his  wppearingT — 
(2  Tim.  iv.  8.) 

"Our  conversation  is  in  heaven,  from  whence  wc  look  for  the  Sar 
viour."— (Phil.  iii.  20.) 

It  is  impossible  to  deny  that  the  attitude  of  expectancy 
and  preparedness  for  a  future  appearing  of  Christ,  is  the 
whole  burden  of  one  and  all  of  these  passages.  Just  think 
how  they  would  sound  in  the  ears  of  saints  living  after  the 
advent.  "  Behold  I  come  quickly" — is  the  exhilarating 
announcement  of  Jesus  to  those  whose  eyes  long  to  behold 
him — "  and  my  reward  is  with  me,  to  give  every  man  ac- 
cording as  his  work  shall  be."  But  from  what  lips  shall 
that  delightful  response  go  forth  after  his  coming,  "  Amen, 
even  so,  come.  Lord  Jesus  ?"  The  Church's  hopes  and 
fears  and  struggles  have  found  their  object  and  end.  Be- 
yond that  end  we  never  get  in  God's  Word.  It  is  the  goal 
of  all  souls  travelling  from  nature  to  grace,  from  a  lost  to 
a  saved  state.  It  is  the  crisis  and  consummation  of  the 
state  of  grace,  and  the  whole  Bible  is  constructed  upon  the 
principle  of  its  being  so. 

And  here,  let  us  recal  the  scriptural  connexion  which  we 
found  to  subsist  between  the  two  comings  of  Christ ;  how  to 
the  ^race  brought  by  the  one  we  look  backward  by  faith,  and 
forward  by  hope  to  the  glori/  which  is  to  be  brought  by  the 
other ;  how.  between  these  two  events,  of  unutterable  import- 
ance to  the  formation  and  growth  of  the  Christian  charac- 
ter, the  believer  is  thus  poised  :  let  this  intrinsic  connexion 
and  studied  juxtaposition  of  these  two  doctrines  in  the 
Christian  system — these  commanding  events  in  the  work 
of  redemption — be  duly  weighed,  and  then  let  the  reader 
say,  whether  the  theory  of  a  race  of  outstanding  saints, 


EXHAUSTED  BY  THE  SECOND  ADVENT       103 

living  on  earth  after  the  second  advent^  does  not  dislocate 
this  connexion,  eviscerate  every  text  which  expresses  it, 
derange  the  whole  economy  of  evangelical  motives,  subvert 
the  only  recognized  basis  of  a  Christian  character,  and  in- 
troduce a  principle  of  inextricable  confusion,  where  order 
and  beauty,  symmetry  and  strength,  are  seen  otherwise  to 
reign.  This  is  strong  language.  Whether  it  be  too 
strong,  let  those  who  dispassionately  weigh  the  grounds 
of  it  determine. 

2.  Similar  remarks  may  be  made  upon  all  those  passages 
in  which  the  second  advent  is  brought  to  bear  upon  "  the 
sinners  in  Zion" — despisers  of  gospel  grace — such  as  the 
f  )llowing : — 

*  The  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven,  with  his  mighty 
angels,  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know 
not  God,  and  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power 
in  that  day."— (2  Thess.  i.  7-10.)  .   . 

"  The  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night,"  &c. — 
(2  Pet.  iii.  10.) 

"And  this  know  that  if  the  good-man  of  the  house  had  known  in 
what  hour  the  thief  would  come,  he  would  have  watched, 
and  not  have  suffered  his  house  to  be  broken  through.  Be 
ye,  therefore,  ready  also ;  for  the  Son  of  Man  cometh  at  an 
hour  when  ye  think  not." — (Luke  xii.  39,  40.) 

"  As  it  was  in  the  days  of  Noe,  so  shall  it  be  also  in  the  days  of 

the  Son  of  Man.     They  did  eat,  they  drank, 

until  the  day  that  Noe  entered  into  the  ark,  and  the 
flood  came  and  destroyed  them  all:  even  thus  shall  it  be 
in  the  day  when  the  Son  of  Man  is  revealed." — (Luke  xvii.  26, 
27,  30.) 

Is  it  necessary  to  ask  whether  such  warnings  would  be  at 
all  applicable  to  sinners  living  after  that  event,  so  full  of 


"^       OP  TiT- 


104  OBJECT    OF    THE    SCRIPTURES. 

terror  to  the  wicked  now.  shall  have  been  numbered 
amongst  the  things  of  the  past  ? 

Thus,  one  half  of  the  Scriptures  would  be  inapplicable  to 
saints^  and  the  other  half  to  sinners^  living  after  Christ's 
coming:  In  other  words,  the  Scriptures  as  a  means  of  grace, 
will  be  fut  OUT  of  date  hy  the  second  advent.  It  is  •'  a 
light  shining  in  a  dark  place  u.ntil  the  day  dawn,"  and 
nothing  more* 

In  reply  to  this  it  is  urged,  that  though  "  the  Old  Tes- 
tament was  a  book  written  for  men  before  the  first  advent, 
and  applicable  universally  to  such  alone,  this  did  not  hin- 
der the  profit  we  derive  from  the  Old  Testament  since  his 
first  coming."!  But  this  is  to  mistake,  and  not  at  all  to 
meet,  my  argument.  It  is  not  the  mere  fact  that  an  event 
is  'past^  that  makes  the  recorded  predictions  of  it  and  pre- 
parations for  it  useless  ever  after.  It  were  absurd  to  main- 
tain this.  But  it  is  the  nature  of  the  event^  which  I  say  would 
render  the  Scriptures  inapplicable  and  useless  to  any  living 
after  it.  What  is  that  event  ?  It  is  "  the  day  when  God 
shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men  by  Jesus  Christ" — "  the  day 
in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by 
that  Man  whom  he  hath  ordained  " — "  the  day  of  judgment 
and  of  the  perdition  of  ungodly  men,  against  which  day 
(alone)  the  heavens  and  the  earth  that  are  now  are  kept  in 
store" — the  day,  in  fine,  of  which  Himself  says  :  '^  Behold 

*  The  Duke  of  Manchester  asks  if  I  include  the  preached  with  the 
written  word  here;  because  if  so,  he  "denies  that  that  will  cease  at 
Christ's  advent,  believing  from  the  prophets,  that  after  the  Lord  comes 
with  fire  (Isa.  Ixvi.  15),  his  glory  will  be  declared  among  the  Gentiles 
(verse  19)."— (P.  290.)  Undoubtedly,  I  say  the  same  of  the  preached  as 
of  the  written  word.  As  to  the  passaige  which  his  Grace  adduces  from 
Isaiah,  I  can  hardly  conceive  it  possible  that  any  one  should  apply  the 
details  of  that  prediction  to  the  second  advent. 

t  Mr.  Bickersteth  {Divine  Warning,  p.  316).  To  the  same  effect,  Mr. 
A.  Bonar  (p.  127),  and  the  Duke  of  Manchester  (p.  291). 


SEALING    ORDINANCES.  105 

I  come  quickly,  and  my  reward  is  with  me  [iter' eftov'j^  to 
give  every  man  according  as  his  work  shall  be."  How 
different  the  bearings  of  this  coming  upon  men's  eternal 
destinies,  from  that  of  his  first  coming !  Why,  in  this  re- 
spect, it  is  just  the  reverse  of  it  The  first  coming  opened 
"  the  door"  of  grace,  which  the  second  coming  will  ^  shuU^ 
(Matt.  XXV.  10;  Luke  xvii.  26-30.)  The  first  coming- 
far  from  rendering  the  Old  Testament  inapplicable,  or 
putting  it  out  of  date,  for  believers  under  the  gospel — only 
opened  out  its  riches,  making  it,  in  some  respects,  more 
valuable  to  us  than  even  to  those  under  whose  economy  it 
was  written.  The  old  and  the  new  dispensations  are,  in 
fact,  but  one  dispensation  of  grace — the  former  being  pre- 
paratory to  the  latter — the  latter  perfective  of  the  former — 
both  together  embracing  the  infancy  and  maturity  of  the 
same  economy  of  grace.  In  short,  of  his  first  advent  the 
Redeemer  expressly  says,  '•  I  came  not  to  judge  the  world 
but  to  save  the  world."  Can  such  a  saying  be  found  re- 
specting his  second  advent  ?  No,  but  the  reverse  of  it 
continually.  Ever  is  it  said  that  he  comes  to  ^'-  judge!^ — 
never  once  that  be  will  come  to  ''  save  the  world."  It  does 
not  follow,  then,  that  because  Christ's  first  coming — to 
save — did  not  supersede  the  Old  Testament,  his  second 
coming — to  judge — will  not  supersede  both  Testaments  as 
means  of  grace ;  but  the  opposite  clearly  follows.  If  the 
object  of  the  Scriptures  be  to  prepare  men  for  ''  that  day" 
which  will  be  the  crisis  and  consummation  of  the  state  of 
grace,  surely  the  arrival  of  that  day  must  supersede  their 
use 

PROPOSITION  THIRD: 

THE    SEALING    ORDINANCES    OF    THE    NEW   TESTAMENT    WILL 
D18APPEAR    AT    CHRIST's    SECOND    COMING. 

The  very  terms  of  their  institution  are  singularly  deci- 
sive on  this  point. 


106        BAPTISM,   AND  THE  WORK  OF  THE    MINISTRY, 

I-  With  respect  to  baptism,  how  conclusive  are  the  glo 
rious  words  of  its  institution  : 

Matt,  xxviii.  18-20:  "And  Jesus  came  and  spake  unto  them, 
saying,  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in 
earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach,"  or  "make  disciples 
of  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you ;  and, 
lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. 
Amen." 

Here  we  have  Christ's  commission  to  establish  his  kingdom 
upon  earth,  the  authority  on  which  that  commission  is 
based,  and  a  gracious  encouragement  to  undertake  and  go 
through  with  it.  The  commission  is,  properly  speaking, 
twofold — missionary  and  pastoral ;  but  there  is  a  sort  of 
third  intermediate  department,  holding  of  both,  linking 
the  two  together,  and  forming,  if  I  may  so  speak,  the 
point  of  transition  between  the  missionary  and  the  pastoral 
departments  of  the  work  prescribed — I  mean  that  of  bap- 
tizing. "  Go,  make  disciples  of  all  nations" — Subjugate 
the  world  to  me ;  bring  all  nations  to  the  obedience  of 
faith."  This  is  the  missionary  work.  This  done,  "  Bap- 
tize the  converts  in  (or  into)  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Grhost."  Generally  speaking, 
this  was  to  afford  the  converts  an  opportunity  of  making 
public  profession  of  the  faith  they  had  embraced — to  be  a 
solemn  declaration  of  their  principles  and  purposes,  and 
their  formal  separation  from  a  world  lying  in  wickedness. 
But,  more  particularly,  it  was  to  be  God^s  solemn  investi- 
ture and  public  infeftment  of  believers  in  all  the  love  of 
the  Father,  the  grace  of  the  Son,  and  the  communion  of 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  to  be  their  solemn  pledge  that  they 
yielded  themselves  to  this  triune  Jehovah  as  their  God  and 
portion,  and  would  cleare  to  him  in  love  and  obedience  as 


CEASE  AT  THE  SECOND  ADVENT.         107 

his  redeemed  people.  Thus  were  they  and  their  seed  to 
be  visibly  declared  the  Lord's,  and  enrolled  the  disciples  of 
Christ ;  arnd  being  thus  formed  and  org.mized  into  churches, 
the  Christian  ministry  immediately  assumed  a  new  charac- 
ter. The  missionary  aggressor  of  those  that  were  without 
now  merges  into  the  pastoral  overseer  of  them  that  are 
within — whose  work  is  tc  train  and  mature  those  organized 
clusters  of  disciples  for  glory,  or,  as  here  expressed,  to 
"  teach  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  Christ  has 
commanded  us."  '  Such,  then,  is  the  Commission.  The 
Authority  is  that  of  him  "  to  whom  all  power  is  given  in 
heaven  and  in  earth"  for  this  very  end.  And  the  encour- 
agement is,  "  Lo !  I  am  with  you  alway,  even,  unto  the  end 
of  the  world.  "  (^awTeXeia  tov  atcoj/oj).  At  this  "  end  of  the 
world,"  then,  whatever  he  meant  by  it,  the  whole  work 
here  described  is  to  cease.  Fortunately,  we  have  no  need 
to  spend  a  moment  in  fixing  the  sense  of  this  phrase  ;  for 
it  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  it  denotes  the  time  of  Christ^s 
personal  coming*  This  being  the  case,  what  do  we  learn 
from  this  passage  ?     Why,  clearly, 

That   THE    WHOLE    WORK    OF    THE    MINISTRY,    both    in     itS 

missionary  and  pastoral  departments — embracing  the  mak' 
ing,  baptizing,  and  training  of  disciples — together  with 
ChrisVs  mediatorial  Power  and  Presence,  for  the  dis- 
charge of  it,  are  to  terminate  at  his  second  coming.  The  bare 
reading  of  the  words  makes  this  as  clear  as  any  comment 
on  them  could  possibly  do.  Nor  let  any  say,  that  though 
the  external  machinery  of  tiie  Church  may  be  changed,  the 
work  of  saving  souls  may  still  go  on.  For  in  this  passage, 
the  means  and  the  end,  the  grace  and  the  channels  for  con- 
veying  it,  the  form  and  the  substance^  are  plainly  bound  up 
with  each  other. 


*  See  pp.  34,  35,  where  we  found  that  same  expression,  "  the  end  ol 
the  world,"  occurring  thrice  in  one  chapter  in  this  same  sense. 


108 

II.  As  to  THE  Lord's  Supper,  what  can  be  more  conclu 
sivo  than 

1  Cor.  xi.  26 :  "  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup^ 
ve  do  show  the  Lord^s  death  till  he  come  "  1 

That  the  cessation  of  this  precious  and  characteristic 
ordinance  of  the  Christian  Church  is  here  intimated,  I 
argue,  not  so  much  from  the  word  '•  till,"  as  from  the 
manifest  design  of  the  statement  itself,  which  was  to  teach 
the  perpetuity  of  this  ordinance  in  the  visible  Church — its 
continuance  as  long  as  there  should  be  a  Church  upon 
earth  in  which  to  show  it  forth.  According,  then,  to  the 
apostle's  teaching,  the  visible  Church-state  and  this  ordi- 
nance are  to  terminate  together,  and  both  at  Christ's  com- 
ing. And  is  not  this  what  any  one  would  take  for  granted, 
from  the  nature  and  intent  of  the  ordinance  itself?  The 
Lord's  Supper  is  the  symbol  of  that  double  attitude  of 
the  believer — to  which  we  find  ourselves  ever  recurring — 
the  backward  look  of  his  faith  and  the  forward  look  of  his 
hope — its  present  crucifixion  and  anticipated  glorification 
with  his  Lord.  Now  this  is  precisely  the  note  which  the 
apostle  strikes.  He  seems  almost  to  go  out  of  his  way  to 
get  at  this,  his  favourite  collocation.  He  does  not  bid 
them  show  the  Lord's  death  in  the  Church  '•  always,  even 
to  the  end  of  the  world" — though  that  had  come  to  the 
same  thing — but  he  bids  them  celebrate  His  death  for 
them,  till,  as  their  Life^  they  find  themselves  appearing 
with  him  in  glory.  "  Show  the  Lord's  death  till  he  comc''^ — 
till  the  aJBfecting  be  turned  into  a  joyous  scene — till  the 
grace  ye  draw  from  his  first,  shall  merge  into  the  glory  ye 
receive  at  his  second  coming — -till  he  whose  table  ye  bedew 
with  your  tears,  in  "  fellowship  with  his  suflferings  and  con- 
formity to  his  death,"  shall  interrupt  your  communion  and 
break  in  upon   you  with  his  glory,  and  swallow  up  faith  in 


THESE    STARTLING    CONCLUSIONS    ADMITTED.       109 

sight;  giving  you  in  place  of  the  symbols,  the  immediate 
and  eternal  fruition  of  Himself  Thus,  the  Lord's  Supper 
will  cease  to  be  celebrated  after  Christ's  coming,  not  be- 
cause the  Lord  of  the  Church  has  so  willed  it.  but  because 
after  that  it  would  be  meaningless — because  the  state  of 
things  and  the  attitude  of  the  beliecing  soul,  with  reference  to 
the  two  comings  of  Christ,  of  which  the  Lord^s  Supper  is  the 
ordained  and  beautiful  symhoL  shall  then  have  no  place. 

What,  then,  have  we  found  with  respect  to  these  or- 
dained means  of  grace  1  Why,  that  the  second  advent, 
come  when  it  may,  will  put  them  all  out  of  date.  The 
passages  which  teach  this  make  no  distinction  between  the 
means  and  the  end ;  they  so  implicate  the  grace  conveyed 
with  the  means  of  conveying  it,  that  both  are  seen  disap- 
pearing together  at  Christ's  coming.  If.  then,  there  is  to  be 
a  millennium  after  that,  it  cannot  be  an  era  of  Christianity  ; 
for  the  whole  Christian  furniture,  and  with  it  all  the 
Christianity  that  has  hitherto  obtained  has  been  withdrawn 
from  the  earth.  The  word  is  inapplicable — it  was  for  a 
totally  different  state  of  things :  the  ordinances  are  gone  : 
and  the  '''•grace  which  hath  appeared  unto  all  men,  bringing 
salvation" — having  no  more  salvation  to  bring,  because 
"the  blessed  hope  and  glorious  appearing"  to  which  it 
points  all  its  possessors  as  a  future  event,  has  become  a 
present  and  glorious  reality — this  grace,  of  which  the  sacra- 
ments are  but  the  symbols  and  exponents,  has  retired  from 
the  field,  having  accomplished  all  its  objects. 

These  conclusions  are  sufficiently  startling,  one  should 
think.  But  it  is  not  every  thing  that  startles  the  advocates 
of  this  commanding  theory.  Mr.  Brooks,  for  example,  not 
only  admits  all  that  we  have  said  about  its  putting  the 
Scriptures  out  of  date,  but  conceives  that  this  very  circum- 
stance furnisbes  valuable  confirmation  of  his  view  of  the 

K 


110  OUR  CONCLUSIONS  ADMITTED 

idvent.  One  whole  essay,  entitled  "  The  approaching 
New  Dispensation,"  is  devoted  to  this  point ;  and  I  have 
to  entreat  those  who  are  not  hopelessly  committed  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  pre-millennial  advent,  to  look  well  in  the 
light  of  the  following  extract,  whither  it  is  likely  to  lead 
them : — 

"  Startling-,  then,"  says  Mr.  Brooks,  "as  it  may  appear  to  some, 
yet  I  apprehend  it  will  be  found  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  would,  for 
t\e  most  part,  be  rendered  inapplicable  to  the  then  existing  circumstances 
of  men  in  the  flesh,  and  that  t/iere  would  need  some  further  revelation  from 
G'jcl*  Now,  I  think  it  must  be  allowed,  that  a  state  of  things 
which  supersedes  a  portion  of  divine  revelation  hitherto  enjoyed,  and 
introduces  man  into  a  state  of  'things  which  is  t/ie  consummation  of 
that  revealed,  has  one  grand  characteristic  of  a  new  dispensation." 

The  first  of  the  things  which  are  to  *'  render  the  Scriptures 
for  the  most  part  inapplicable,"  Mr.  Brook  says,  is  the 
bindijig  of  Satan,  and  its  consequences ;  regarding  which 
he  tells  us,  that 

"  All  that  is  written  for  the  comfort  of  the  believer  under  such 
circumstances — the  promises  set  before  him,  to  sustain  him  during 
the  conflict,  and  the  experience  of  the  cloud  of  witnesses,  re- 
corded for  his  encouragement,  will  become  comparatively  a  dead 
letter — a  matter  inapplicable  to  the  circumstances  in  which  the 
Church  can,  for  a  thousand  years,  by  any  probability  be  placed. 
1  forbear,"  he  adds,  after  one  or  two  other  examples  of  this 
kind,  "  to  bring  forward  many  other  particulars,  which  would 
obviously  be  rendered  nugatory  by  our  Lord\'s  personal  advent. 
What  I  have  advanced  is  sufficient  to  evince,  that  the  whole 
character  of  the  Church  and  of  the  state  of  mankind  would  be  so 


*  "  To  avoid  being  misunderstood,^!  would  observe,  that  when  I  say 
the  Scriptures  would  be  for  the  most  part  inapplicable,  I  am  aware  that 
there  are  many  glorious  declarations  concerning  the  divine  attributes 
and  conduct  (!),  which  could  never  lose  their  power  and  influence  on  a 
regenerate  soul." 


BY    MR.    BROOKS.  Ill 

altered,  tog-ether  with  their  spiritual  and  religious  circumstances, 
that  we  should  no  longer  find  them  portrayed  generally  in  the 
length  and  breadth  of  Scripture;  and  it  would  not,  perhaps, 
be  too  much  to  say,  that  the  great  bulk  of  what  are  called 
practical  discmtrses,  at  present  delivered  or  published,  would  be 
as  much  u^suited  t(;  the  condition  of  mankind  as  they  would 
were  they  aadressed  to  ihe  angels  of  God!  This  view  of  the  sub- 
ject," he  continues,  "  is  strikingly  confirmed  by  referring  to  the 
past  history  of  the  Church,  and  reasoning  from  the  analogy  of 
the  case.  Whensoever  any  great  change  has  been  made  in  its 
circumstances  and  condition,  it  has  always  been  accompanied  by 
a  further  revelation  from  God,  concerning  the  dispensation  about 
to  be  introduced,  and  containing  also  some  intimations  of  the  dis- 
pensation to  succeed Again,    each  decidedly  marked 

era  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  has  not  only  been  accompanied  by 
an  increase  of  revelation,  but  by  a  disannulling  or  superseding  of 

something  going  before When,  therefore,  a  similar 

difference  shall  exist  in  the  use  of  the  New  Testament  revelation, 
it  will  be  equally  manifest  that  a  new  dispensation  has  arrived, 
yor  will  the  Scriptures,  superseded  in  the  millennium,  be  devoid  of 
interest  or  use ;  but  they  will  serve  in  the  way  of  retrospection  and 
memorial ;  excepting  some  very  few  passages,  respecting  *  the  little 
season,'  when  Satan  shall  be  loosed — and  the  events  which  are  to 
follow." 

On  this  memorial  use  of  the  Scriptures  during  the  millen- 
uium,  there  is  the  following  singular  note,  which  I  take 
the  liberty  of  introducing  into  the  text: — "Thus  the 
manna^  given  in  the  wilderness,  ceased  on  the  entering  of 
the  Church  into  the  promised  land  ;  but  a  pot  of  it  was  laid 
up  in  th£.  ark  as  a  memorial  /"'  * 

Thus,  then,  the  Scriptures  will  be  "  superseded,"  as 
being  "  inapplicable"  during  the  millennium ;  and  all 
"  practical  discourses,"  founded  upon  Scripture,  will  be  as 
"  unsuitable  as  to  the  angels  of  God."  These  Scriptures, 
however,  will  not  be  altogether  "  devoid  of  interest  or  use." 

*  Abdiel's  Essays;  Investigfitor,  vol.  ii.  267-270. 


112  OUR  CONCLUSIONS  ADMITTED 

They  will  "  serve  in  the  way  of  retrospection  and  memo- 
rial," like  the  pot  of  manna,  when  the  earth  shall  be  flow- 
ing with  the  milk  and  the  honey  of  a  new  and  more  '*  appli- 
cabfe  "  revelation  ! 

But  possibly  these  are  extravagances  of  Mr.  Brooks, 
alone,  unsanctioned  by  his  brethren.  If  it  were  so,  the 
inconsistency  would  be  theirs,  not  his.  Certainly,  a  New 
Dispensation  is  what  they  are  all  looking  for,  and  per- 
petually dwelling  on  ;  and  it  is  a  necessary  part  of  their 
scheme,  since  the  millennium  they  are  expecting  will  be  so 
organically  different  from  any  thing  now  existing,  that  it 
would  be  ridiculous  to  imagine  it  realized,  save  under  a 
new  and  perfectly  unique  dispensation.  And  who  can  fail 
to  see  that  a  new  dispensation  necesi<arily  implies  a  nev^"- 
REVELATION  to  ushcr  it  iu  :  in  other  words,  to  authorize 
and  organize  it?  I  am  quite  aware  of  the  harshness  of 
this  sound  in  the  ears  of  many  excellent  pre-millennialists, 
who  flatter  themselves  that  their  doctrine  may  be  held 
without  tacking  to  it  the  repulsive  expectation  of  a  new 
revelation  ;  and  who,  amidst  the  cloud  of  difficulties  in 
which  their  scheme  is  enveloped,  in  this  view  of  it,  are 
fain  to  betake  themselves  to  their  favourite  refuge — that 
'  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  difficulties.'  Bat  the  follow- 
ing extracts  will  show  that  Mr.  Brooks  is  far  from  being 
alone  on  the  subject  of  a  new  revelation. 

"  There  arc,"  saj's  Mr.  Bickersteth,  "  some  original  and  valu- 
able remarks  on  the  millennium  in  the  essays  of  the  Rev.  H.  Wood- 
ward. He  shows  HOW  inapplicable  the  Scriptures  op  the  New 
Testament,  written  for  a  tempted  and  suftering  Church,  are  to 
THIS  state  of  things,  and  thence  draws  an  argument  for  the  per- 
sonal advent  of  our  Lord  on  earth,  to  open  the  very  fountain 
prom  which  the  Scriptures  themselves  have  flowed,  from 
WHICH  new  streams  may  issue  forth  to  water  a  renovatee 
world,  and  make  glad  th':  city  of  God."  * 

•  Guide,  pp.  295,  296.     Fifth  Edition. 


BY    MR.  BICKERSTETH    AND    DR.   M^NEILE.  113 

-'We  may  expect  [during  the  millennium]  further  means  of 
grace," — says  the  same  author,  in  commenting  on  my  quotation 
from  him  in  the  foregoing  paragraph — "  and  a  visible  economy 

POSSIBLY    OF    ORAL    REVELATION    FROM    THOSE    WHO    REIGN    UPON   THB 

EARTH,  as  we  see  in  the  Jewish  economy."  * 

In  other  words,  the  glorified  saints  who  are  to  reign  on 
the  earth,  may  "  oraLy"  communicate  the  mind  of  God  to 
those  then  living  in  the  flesh,  as  the  prophets  did  of  old  to 
the  Jewish  people,  and  a  visible  economy  of  such  oral  re- 
velation may  characterize  the  millennium  ! 

*'  These  passages  of  Scripture,"  says  Dr.  M'Neile,  "  avowedly 
belong  to  this  dispensation.  ...  But,  on  the  supposition  that  the 
dispensation  is  to  enlarge  itself  by  degrees  into  the  universal 
blessedness  predicted  by  the  prophets,  then  these  Scriptures 
WILL  NOT  CONTINUE  TO  APPLY;  and  who  is  to  determine" — he 
means,  without  a  new  revelation — "at  what  point  of  the  pro- 
gress they  cease  to  be  applicable]  It  is  obvious,  that  in  the 
passage  from  our  present  state  to  a  state  of  universal  holiness, 

THESE  CHARACTERISTIC  SAYINGS  OF  THE  NeW  TESTAMENT  MUST 
CEASE   TO     HAVE     ANY     APPLICATION,    AND   BECOME    OBSOLETE,    NOT    TO 

SAY  FALSE :  and  again  I  ask,  who  is  to  determine  at  what  point 
of  the  progress  they  cease  to  apply  7 1  We  maintain,  therefore, 
that  as  the  statutes  of  the  book  of  Leviticus  continued  binding, 
until  another  plain  and  direct  communication  from  the  God  who 
gave  them  showed  that  they  were  superseded,  and  a  better  order 
of  things  introduced  ;  so  these  Scriptures,  describing  the  experi- 
ence, the  number,  and  the  character  of  the  Lord's  people,  under 
this  dispensation,  must  continue  applicable,  till  another  plain 

AND     direct     communication,     FROM     HIM     WHO     GAVE     THEM,    SHALL 

BHow  THAT  THEY  ARE  SUPERSEDED,  aud  a  Still  better  order  of  things 


*  Divine  Warning,  p.  316. 

t  The  passages  selected,  as  then  inapplicable,  are  such  as  the  follow- 
ing: '•  Stniit  is  the  gate  and  narrow  is  the  way  of  life ;"  "Be  not 
conformed  to  this  world ;"  "  Come  out  from  among  them  and  be  ye 
separate,  saith  the  Lord."  On  these  passages  I  shall  have  occvsion  to, 
t3'ich  by  and  by. 

k2 


114  SUMMARY. 

introduced.     This  communication  we  expect  at  the  second  com- 
ing OF  OUR  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  "  * 

We  have  thus  the  testimony  of  our  friends  themselves— 
and  these  not  certainly  the  extremest  section  of  them — in 
favour  of  the  main  position  of  this  chapter,  namely,  that 
the  second  advent  will  put  all  that  we  now  have^  in  the  way 
of  means,  out  of  date.  We,  indeed,  carry  the  matter  a 
very  little  farther  than  they  do.  They  talk  of  a  neiu  order 
of  things^  and,  in  connexion  with  this,  they  look  with  per- 
fect consistency  for  a  new  revelation  authoritatively  to 
launch  it :  I  have  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  old  order 
of  things,  which  Christ's  coming  is  to  supersede,  includes 
not  only  the  present  means  of  grace,  but  the  grace  itself 
conveyed  by  them.  They  will  not  go  this  length  ;  but 
whether  they  are  far  short  of  it,  let  the  reader  judge. 
When  they  have  found  that  millennial  Christianity  will  be 
so  different  a  thing  from  the  Christianity  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament that  it  will  need  a  revelation  for  itself — when  they 
have  found  (though  some  of  them  demur  to  this),  that 
''  the  gate"  into  it  will  no  longer  be  "  strait,"  nor  the  way 
of  it  any  longer  "  narrow  ;"  that  there  will  be  nothing  to 
"  come  out  and  be  separated  from" — no  "  world,"  the  "  love" 
of  which  is  incompatible  with  the  "  love  of  the  Father" — • 
and  no  devil — most  people  will  imagine  that  they  have  got 
rid  of  some  rather  important  features  of  Christianity  itself. 
Satan  is  gone ;  the  world  is  gone — that  is  to  say,  as  in  any 
respect  inimical  to  salvation  ;  and  if  the  gate  into  spiritual 
safety  be  not  strait,  nor  the  way  of  it  narrow,  tJie  flesh  must 
be   gone  also.f     Whether,  after  this,    "  the  grace  which 

*  Lectures  on  the  Jews,  pp.  79-8L     First  Edition. 

t  "I  am  not  quite  clear  (says  the  Duke  of  Manchester)  as  to  what 
Mr.  Brown  intends  here.  Satan  and  the  world  are  not  important  fea- 
tures of  Christianity,"  &c.— (P.  292.)  1  can  hardly  think  that  this  plea- 
santry will  puzzle  any  one.   We  have  been  accustomed  to  think  that  the 


SUMMAR\.  115 

briDgeth  salvUion"  will  have  any  thing  to  do — whether  it 
would  not  be  rather  ifi  the  way — whether,  in  short,  such  a 
view  of  millennial  Christianity  be  any  thing  more  savoury, 
or  more  intelligible,  than  the  Adamism  from  which  they 
profess  to  stand  aloof;  or,  rather,  whether  it  be  not  this  same 
Adamism,  if  it  be  any  thing  more  than  an  inexpressible 
abstraction — we  may  leave  unsettled  just  now,  as  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  dissect  it  when  we  come  to  investigate  the 
character  of  the  millennial  era.  Meantime  I  cannot  but 
hope,  that,  prepared  as  are  some  of  the  advocates  of  the 
pre-millennial  scheme  for  all  this,  and  more  too,  rather 
than  abandon  their  beloved  theory — there  are  others,  and 
not  a  few,  who  will  think  its  advantages  rather  dearly 
purchased  at  this  expense,  and  will  suspect  that  a  scheme 
involving  an  obligation  to  look  for  such  things  does  not 
look  like  a  Scriptural  one. 

divine  life  is  as  much  a  militant  state  here  as  it  will  be  a  triumphant 
state  hereafter  ;  and  that  *'^e  that  overcometh,"  and  none  else,  will  ever 
"  see  life."  Whether  this  can  apply  to  such  a  millennium  as  we  are 
asked  to  believe  in,  is  the  point  I  speak  to. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    SAME    SUBJECT    CONTINUED. 

I  HAVE  shown  that  the  ordained  channels  or  means  of 
grace  dry  up  and  disappear  at  the  second  advent ;  and 
that  wherever  this  is  intimated,  the  grace  conveyed  is  so 
bound  up  with  the  means  of  conveying  it,  that  neither  can 
without  violence  be  torn  asunder  from,  or  be  imagined  to 
survive,  the  other. 

But  I  said  that  the  agencies  of  salvation  would  cease  at 
the  same  time ;  by  which  I  mean  the  present  work  of 
Christ  in  the  heavens,  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  as  the 
fruit  of  it.  The  truth  on  this  subject,  which  I  shall  now 
illustrate  from  Scripture,  may  be  expressed  as  follows  : — 

PROPOSITION  FOURTH: 

THE  INTERCESSION  OF  CHRIST,  AND  THE  WORK  OF  THE 
SPIRIT,  FOR  SAVING  PURPOSES,  WILL  CEASE  AT  THE  SECOND 
ADVENT. 

I.  The  ground  and  the  nature  of  Christ's  intercession 
are  sufficiently  known.  But  what  I  wish  to  be  observed  is 
the  place  which  it  holds  in  relation  to  His  two  advents.  It 
stands  intermediate  between  his  first  and  his  second  coming , 
as  the  following  passage,  viewed  as  a  whole,  plainly 
shows  : — 

Heb.  ix.   12,   24-28:    "By  his  own  blood  he  entered  in  once 
into   the  holy  place,  having   obtained  eternal  redemptioD 


Christ's  intercession.  117 

for  us,  Christ  is  not  entered  into  the  holy  places  made 
with  hands,  which  are  the  figures  of  the  true;  but  into 
heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for 
us:  Nor  yet  that  he  should  offer  himself  often,  as  the 
high  priest  entereth  into  the  holy  place  every  year  with 
blood  of  others,-  for  then  must  he  often  have  suffered 
since  the  foundation  of  the  world :  but  now  once  in  the  end 
of  the  world  hath  he  appeared  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  himself  And  as  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to 
die,  but  after  this  the  judgment:  So  Christ  was  once  offered 
to  bear  the  sins  of  many ;  and  unto  them  that  look  for  him 
shall  he  appear  the  second  time,  without  sin,  unto  salva- 
tion." 

Here  the  two  advents  stand  at  the  two  extremities  of 
Christ's  mediatorial  work,  while  the  intercession  stretches 
from  one  to  the  other,  and  occupies  the  whole  intervening 
period.  Each  of  these  three  things  is  termed  an  "  appear- 
ing"-the  word  being  somewhat  different  in  each  case,  but 
the  idea  essentially  the  same — and  each  of  them  is  said 
to  be  done  once..  Thus  :  "  Once  in  the  end  of  the  world 
hath  he  appeared  (Te^vepwrat)  to  put  away  sin  by  the 
sacrifice  of  himself"  "  By  his  own  blood  he  entered  in 
once  into  the  holy  place" — '-  not  in  the  holy  places  made 
with  hands,  but  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  (^cft<p  ii>ia9rjvai^ 
in  the  presence  of  God  for  us."  "  And  unto  them  that 
look  for  him  shall  he  appear  [oipdriaerai)  the  second 
time  [once  for  all]  without  sin,  unto  salvation."  The 
first  and  the  last  appearances  are  to  us :  The  interme- 
diate appearance  is  to  God,  for  us.  This  intermediate 
appearance — "  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us" — carries  into 
effect  the  work  of  his  first  appearance  to  us,  and  prepares 
the  way  for  his  second.  As  he  appeared  the  first  time  "  to 
pid  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,"  so  he  will  ap- 
pear the  second  time,  "  without  sin^  unto  salvation."  Now, 
as  the  second  coming  is  here  represented  as  crowning  the 


118  Christ's  intv:rcession. 

whole  purposes  of  the  first^  it  is  plain  that  the  intercession, 
which  is  but  a  continual  pleading  upon  the  merit  of  his 
death,  must  be  over,  for  all  saving  purposes,  before  he 
comes. 

Let  the  reader  now  connect  this  view  of  Christ's  inter- 
cession with  the  following  :— 

Heb.  vii.  25 :  "  Wherefore  he  is  able  also  to  save  them  to  the  utter- 
most that  come  unto  God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to 
make  intercession  for  them." 

Taking  this  expression,  "  to  the  uttermost"  ("f  to  nav- 
reXes)  Comprehensively,  it  may  denote  that  Christ  is  able 
to  save  "  completely  as  to  all  parts,  fully  as  to  all  causes, 
and  for  ever  in  duration  " — (Owen,  ad  loc.)  But  as  the 
contrast  here  between  Christ  and  the  high  priests  under 
the  law,  is  made  to  hinge  upon  his  "  ever  living"  to  dis- 
charge his  ofi&ce,  while  "  they  were  not  suffered  to  con- 
tinue by  reason  of  death,"  I  think  the  apostle,  by  this  ex- 
pression, means  perpetuity — to  the  uttermost  case,  to  the 
last  object,  and  the  last  necessities  of  that  object,  for 
whom  salvation  is  designed  and  required.  His  people, 
may,  one  by  one,  disappear  fron>  the  stage  \  but  their  In- 
tercessor liveth.  Age  after  age  shall  find  him  at  his  post. 
And  the  last  soul  that  "  comes  unto  Grod  by  him,"  shall 
find  him  "  in  heaven  itself,  there  appearing  in  the  presence 
of  God  for  him,"  a  Priest  in  perpetuity  before  the  Mercy- 
Seat. 

"  Till  all  the  ransomed  Church  of  God 
Be  saved  to  sin  no  more." 

The  last  soul  that  ever  shall  be  saved  will  be  the  fruit  of 
this  glorious  intercession  as  well  as  the  first. 

If  these  observations  be  just,  they  go  to  settle  the  whole 
question.  When  the  Advent  arrives,  the  Intercession  is 
done;  and,  when  the  Intercession  is  done,    Salvation    is 


WORK    OF    THE    SPIRIT.  110 

done.     When  Christ  appears  the  second  time  to  us,  he  will 
cease  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us* 

2.  The  second  branch  of  our  proposition,  regarding  the 
work  of  the  Spirit,  must  stand  or  fall  with  the  first.      For 

*  Tn  the  former  edition  of  this  work,  I  dwelt  upon  the  sphere  or 
locality  where  the  intercession  is  conducted — "  the  holy  place  not  made 
with  hands,"  "  heaven  itself,"  '*  at  the  right  hand  of  God ;"  affirming 
that  as  Christ's  going  in  within  the  veil  corresponds  to  his  ascension 
from  the  earth,  and  session  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  so  his  coming  out 
again,  as  did  the  high  priest  at  the  close  of  his  work,  answers  to  his 
glorious  return  to  us  at  his  second  advent ;  and  thus,  that  the  period  of 
his  intercession  is  just  the  time  of  his  absence  from  us  in  the  heavens — 
neither  less  nor  more  ;  and  that,  while  there  is  one  outstanding  soul  to 
be  gathered  in,  he  cannot  leave  his  present  abode,  nor  alter  his  present 
attitude  "in  the  presence  of  God  for  us." 

I  am  satisfied  that  this  is  correct.  But  as  great  pains  have  been  taken 
to  show  that  it  is  not  so,  I  will  show  that  my  argument  from  the  inter- 
cession of  Christ  is  not  dependent  on  that  particular  aspect  of  it,  by 
waiving  it  altogether.  It  has  been  said,  for  example,  that  the  locality  is 
of  no  consequence;  that  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  the  Redeemer  from 
interceding  on  eiirth  as  well  as  in  heaven — on  the  Mount  of  Olives  as 
well  as  at  the  right  hand  of  God — and  that  though  it  was  necessary  that 
he  should  go,  it  was  not  necessary  for  him  to  staj/  within  the  veil,  even 
for  a  moment,  with  a  view  to  the  exercise  of  his  present  office  as  our 
•'  High  Priest  over  the  house  of  God."  I  believe  I  could  show  this  to 
be  unsatisfactory  and  incorrect.  But  as  my  argument  from  the  position 
and  the  period  of  the  intercession — as  intermediate  between  the  two  ad- 
vents—and therefore  ceasing  necessarily  when  the  second,  the  consum- 
mating advent,  arrives — is  complete  without  it,  I  am  content  to  let  the 
other  filone. 

Nor  do  I  enter  into  the  questions  which  have  been  raised  about  the 
continuance  of  Christ's  intercession,  and  in  what  sense,  after  the  whole 
Church  has  been  gathered  and  perfected.  I  will  not  be  drawn  into  such 
matters.  The  proposit'on  I  have  laid  down  is,  that  Christ's  intercession 
for  saving  purposes  (by  which  I  mean,  the  inhringing  of  sinners  and 
the  perfecting  of  saints),  will  cease  at  his  second  coming ;  and  this  I 
think  I  have  established.  Let  me  refer  the  reader  to  Calvin  (Instit. 
Lib.  iii.  cap.  xx.),  Turretin  (Theol.  Elenct.  Loc.  xiv.  Quaest.  xv.), 
Owen  (on  Heb.  vii.  25,  and  ix.  24-28),  De  Moor  (Comm.  in  Marckii 
Comp.  cap.  XX.  §  xxix.),  Symington  (Atonement  and  Intercession,  pp 
348-357.) 


120  WORK    OF    THE    SPIRIT. 

as  the  mission  of  the  Comforter  is  through  the  intercession 
of  Christ,  and  the  continued  effusion  of  the  Spirit  results 
from  the  continual  intercession  of  our  High  Priest,  the 
second  advent,  if  it  bring  the  latter  to  a  close,  must  be  the 
terminating  period  of  the  former  also. 

The  passages  which  show  the  connexion   of  these  two 
things,  are  such  as  the  following  : — 

John  vii.  38,  39 :  'He  that  believeth  on  me,  out  of  his  belly  [the 
depths  of  his  inner  man]  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water. 
This  spake  he  of  the  Spirit,  which  they  that  believe  on  him 
should  receive  ;  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  [given] ;  be- 
cause that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified." 

Chap.  xiv.  26,  17,  26  :  "I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give 
you  another  Comforter,  that  he  may  abide  with  you  for  ever ; 
[even]  the  Spirit  of  truth.  The  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy 
Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach 
you  all  things." 

Chap.  XV.  36:  "When  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  send 
unto  you  from  the  Father." 

Chap.  xvi.  7,  14:  "It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away: 
for  if  I  go  not  awaj'',  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you ; 
but  if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him  unto  you.  He  shall  glorify 
me :  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto 
you." 

Acts  ii.  33 :  "  Being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and  having 

received  of  the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he 

hath  shed  forth  this." 
Tit.  iii.  5,  6:  "  He  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and 

renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly 

through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour." 

Rev.  iii.  1 :  "  These  things  saith  he  that  hath  the  seven  spirits  of 
God." 

Chap.  V.  6:  "  And  I  beheld,  and,  lo,  in  the  midst  of  the  Throne, 
and  of  the  four  living  creatures,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  el- 
ders, stood  A  LAMB  AS  IT  HAD  BEEN  SLAIN,  haviug  scvcn  homs 
and  seven  eyes,  which  are  the  seven  spirits  of  God  sent  forth 
into  all  the  earth," 


BOTH    TERMINATE    AT    THE    SECOND    ADVENT.       121 

But  why  quote  passages  expressly  linking  the  mission 
and  work  of  the  Spirit  with  Christ's  sacerdotal  Intercession 
and  regal  Glory  at  the  right  hand  of  God  ?  For  it  is  ad- 
mitted on  all  hands,  that  the  whole  application  of  Christ's 
work  in  the  flesh  is  accomplished  in  every  one  of  his  peo- 
ple, from  first  to  last,  by  the  agency  of  the  Spirit,  com- 
municated through  his  continual  intercession.  Thus  this 
department  of  Christ's  priestly  office  holds  at  once  of  the 
purchase  and  of  the  application  of  redemption.  The  actual 
salvation  of  any  soul,  as  it  is  by  virtue  of  his  meritorious 
death  which  his  intercession  pleads,  so  it  is  through  the 
agency  of  his  Spirit  which  that  intercession  procures.  In 
this  intercession  the  merit  of  his  death  and  the  might  of 
his  Spirit  find  their  legal  connexion,  and  by  means  of  it  the 
one  passes  into  the  other.  There  is  a  continuous  presenta- 
tion of  his  sacrifice,  or  of  Himself  in  the  virtue  of  it,  in 
order  to  a  continuous  acknowledgment  of  his  right  to  re- 
ceive and  dispense  the  Spirit  to  each  of  his  redeemed  in 
succession,  down  to  the  last,  when  he  "  appears  the  second 
time  without  sin,  unto  salvation."  This  appearing  lies,  as 
we  have  seen,  at  the  other  extremity  of  the  Redeemer's 
work.  We  have  nothing  here  to  do  with  questions  re- 
garding the  active  agency  of  the  Spirit,  the  exercise  of  in- 
tercession, and  other  mediatorial  functions  of  Christ,  in  the 
everlasting  state.  My  views  on  that  subject  differ  in  noth- 
ing, I  suppose,  from  those  of  others  sound  in  the  faith, 
and  of  my  esteemed  opponents  in  this  great  question. 
But  it  is  with  the  intercession  of  Christ  and  the  work  of 
the  Spirit  for  saviiig  purposes^  or  during  the  period  when 
the  saving  of  souls  is  going  on — that  I  have  exclusively  to 
do  here.  And  this,  I  think  I  have  shown,  is  to  cease  at  the 
secojid  comhig  of  Christ. 

The  force  of  our  reasoning  on  this  head  is  felt  and  ad- 
mitted even  by  pre-millennialists  themselves,  whon  their 

L 


122  EXTRACTS    FROM    PRE-MILLENNIALISTS 

particular  scheme  of  the  advent  does  not  happen  to  require 
their  opposition  to  it.  Take  the  following  proof  of  this 
from  good  Joseph  Perry,  "  an  unworthy  servant  in  the 
work  of  the  gospel,"  whose  pre-millennial  system  certainly 
has  its  own  difficulties,  as  we  have  seen,  though  this  is  net 
one  of  them  : — 

"  There  are  some  things,"  says  he,  "  that  these  last  do  hold 
(meaning  those  who  in  his  day  held  the  views  now  most  preva- 
lent amongst  pre-millennialists),  that  I  cannot  by  any  means 
assent  to ;  and  that  is,  when  Christ  shall  be  established  upon  the 
tlirone  of  his  glory,  in  his  kingdom,  and  all  the.  saints  with  him, 
in  a  perfect,  incorruptible  state  of  immortality,  that  then  there 
shall  be  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  conversion-work  go  forward 
among  the  multitude  of  the  nations  that  shall  be  found  living 
when  Christ  cometh,  according  to  the  opinion  of  some  good  men. 
I  say  this  is  that  which  I  cannot  fall  in  with,  but  must  profess 
my  dislike  against,  because  I  cannot  believe  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  will  come  down  from  heaven,  and  leave  that  great  work  op 
HIS  intercession  now  at  God's  right  hand,  until  the  whole 
NUMBER  OP  God's  elect  among  Jews  and  Gentiles  are  convert- 
ed, AND  the  mystical  BODY  OP  ChRIST  IS  COMPLETED.  AnD  IF  SO, 
where  is  THERE  ANY  ROOM  FOR  CONVERSION- WORK  TO  GO  ON  AFTER 
THIS  *?"* 

The  honest  man  never  thought  there  could  be  a  question 
about  Christ's  coming  putting  an  end  to  his  intercession. 
And  what  he  could  not  comprehend  was,  how,  when  his 
coming  had  brought  him  out  from  within  the  veil  and  put 
an  end  to  his  intercession,  his  mystical  body  should  still  be 
incomplete,  and  conversion-work  go  on  as  before. 

So  natural  is  this  view  of  the  intercession  of  Christ,  that 
we  find  even  those  to  whose  system  it  is  fatal,  letting  it 
slip  from  their  pen,  as  if  unaware  at  the  moment  what  they 
were  conceding.     For  example,  in  one  of  the  volumes  of 


Glory  of  Christ's  Visible  Kingdom,  pp,  219,  220. 


IN    CONFIRMATION    OF    THIS SUMMARY.  123 

Lent  Lectures  on  the  Second  Advent,  1  find  Mr.  Barker, 
on  Heb.  vii.  25,  thus  expressing  himself — 

"It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  remember  that  the  word  'ever' 
signifies  continuity ^  not  eternity  of  action;  for  the  office  of  Christ 
AS  OUR  Intercessor  will  have  its  close  when  he  has  brought 
ALL  HIS  PEOPLE  WITH  HIM."  *  And  whcii  wiU  that  be  1  The 
whole  tenor  of  the  lecture  answers,  at  the  time  mentioned  in  his 
text,  when  '  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a 
shout,'  when  '  we  who  are  alive  and  remain  shall  be  caught  up  . 
together  with  the  risen  in  the  clouds  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air, 
and  so  shall  we  ever  bo  with  the  Lord.' " — (1  Thess.  iv.  16,  17.) 

"  When  Messiah,"  says  the  Duke  of  Manchester,  "  shall  leave 
the  '  Holy  of  Holies,'  where  he  has  now  entered,  to  '  appear  in  the 
presence  of  God  for  us' — intercession  which  is   peculiar  to  his 

BEING     IN    THE    HOLY    OF     HOLIES,    SHALL     HAVE     CEASED.       Coincident 

with  this  (he  adds),  upon  resigning  the  kingdom  (that  in  which  he 
now  reigns,  but  which  he  will  resign  at  the  millennium)  to  the  Fa- 
ther, he  will  leave  '  the  throTie  of  grace,'  on  which  he  shall  reign  until 
the  effectual  application,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  aU  his  work  towards  '  the 
restitution  of  all  things'  "  "f 

And  now,  summing  up  the  argument  of  these  two  chap- 
ters, what  have  we  found  ?  We  have  found  that  when 
Christ  comes,  as  the  Church  will  then  be  complete,  so  the 
means  of  grace  and  the  agencies  of  salvation  will  then  ter- 
minate. In  other  words,  as  there  will  then  be  no  more  souls 
to  be  saved  J  so  the  whole  provision  for  saving  them  will  be 
withdrawn.     The  object  of  the  Scripture  will  be  exhausted  ; 


♦  The  Hope  of  the  Apostolic  Church,  p.  184.    Compare  p.  204.    1846. 

t  Horse  Hebraicae,  p.  90.     1835. 

In  his  *'  Finished  Mystery,"  his  Grace  seems  to  intimate  that  I  have 
80  far  misunderstood  him,  as  at  least  to  draw  a  wrong  inference  from  his 
statement.  I  regret  this,  and  the  more  as  1  have  not  been  able  to  catch 
the  precise  import  of  his  explanation.  The  reader,  therefore,  will  bear 
in  mind  that  his  Grace  does  not  admit  the  conclusion  which  his  wordi 
■eem  to  suggest. 


k 


124 


SUMMARY. 


both  the  sealing  ordinan:es  of  the  New  Testament  will  dis- 
appear, and  with  them  the  grace  which  they  "  signify  and 
seal ;"  in  a  word,  the  intercession  of  Christ  and  the  work  of 
the  Spirit,  for  saving  purposes,  will  then  terminate.  I  have 
not  sought  to  establish  one  of  these  positions  as  a  mere  in- 
ference from  another.  Each  of  them  has  been  established 
independently  of  all  the  rest.  Each  of  them  is  thus  a  check 
upon  the  rest,  and  a  test  of  their  soundness.  And  thus 
the  whole  argument  on  this  branch  of  our  subject  is  cumu- 
lative;  making  it  evident,  on  a  number  of  different  but 
connected  grounds,  that  a  millennium  after  the  second  advent 
was  never  designed,  is  not  provided  for,  and  will  not  take 
place. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  CHPaST ALREADY  IN  BEING ITS  MILLEN- 
NIAL ESSENTIALLY  THE  SAME  WITH  ITS  PRESENT  CHARA^- 
TER ITS  ORGANIC  FORM  UNCHANGED. 

Two  things  are  in  question  here — the  period  and  the 
NATURE  of  Christ's  kingdom  and  reign.  But  as  the  one 
determines  the  other,  it  will  be  most  convenient  to  handle 
them  together.  It  is  a  very  glorious  and  comprehensive 
branch  of  our  subject.  The  points  embraced  under  it,  how- 
ever, are  of  the  most  multifarious  description,  the  texts 
with  which  we  are  met  heaped  up  with  often  little  or  no 
classification,  and  the  speculations  drawn  out  of  them  al- 
most endless.  Besides,  on  no  part  of  the  subject  are  our 
friends  more  at  variance  amongst  themselves.  When  you 
have  disposed  of  the  texts  and  demolished  the  views  of  one 
writer,  you  find  another  untouched,  who  claims  to  be  heard 
and  tried  on  his  own  merits.  More  than  once  have  I  thrown 
down  their  books  with  a  sigh,  having  lost  myself  in  the 
thicket  of  texts  and  contradictory  opinions  in  which  I  had 
got  entangled,  and  nearly  despairing  of  being  able  to  bring 
order  out  of  this  mass  of  confusion.  If,  however,  we  can 
seize  on  such  prominent  characteristics  of  Christ's  kingdom 
■  and  reign  as  our  friends  agree  on  amongst  themselves,  and 
bring  these  to  the  test  of  Scripture,  the  intelligent  inquirer 
will  be  satisfied,  and  all  that  is  essential  will  be  gained. 

The  following  proposition,  then,  will  be  all  but  univer- 
l2 


126  PRE-MILLENNIAL    THEORY    OF 

sally  assented  to  by  those  whom  we  oppose  :  That  the 
proper  kingdom  and  reign  of  Christ  are  yet  to  come ;  that 
the  millennium  is  its  period  ;  that  having  come  the  second 
time  before  that  era.  and  taken  possession  of  the  throne  of 
David  in  Jerusalem,  he  will  reign  there  in  person  for  a 
thousand  years,  with  his  risen  and  changed  saints,  over  the 
restored  and  converted  Jews  in  their  own  land,  and  through 
them  over  the  whole  Gentile  world. 

Let  us  hear  some  of  them  on  the  subject. 

"  We  maintain,"  says  one,  "  that  Christ  has  not  yet  received 
ANY  KINGDOM  WHICH  HE  CAN  DELIVER  UP.  A  man  Can  only  law- 
fully deliver  up  that  which  is  his  own ;  but  by  this  theory  (meaning 
Mr.  Scott's),  Christ  is  made  to  deliver  up  that  which  is  not  his 
OWN,  but  the  Father's.  He  occupies,  no  doubt,  the  Father's  throne, 
being  seated  there  beside  him,  and  that  throne  he  may  leave ;  .  .  . 
but,  .  .  .  we  are  not  aware  that  ever  in  the  New  Testament,  '  the  king- 
dom^ is  used  as  denoting  the  present  seat  of  the  Fathers  power 
in  lieaven"  Again :  "  Now,  Christ  is  only  seated  upon  the  Father'3 
throne.  He  is  only,  as  it  were,  exalted  in  another's  right,  and  invested 
with  another's  power ;  but  in  the  day  of  coming  glory,  he  is  to  assume 
HIS  OWN  SCEPTRE,  TO  SIT  UPON  HIS  OWN  THRONE,  and  cxcrcisc  do- 
minion in  a  way  which  he  has  not  hitherto  done.  He  is  to  take  to 
himself  his  great  power,  as  if  it  had  been  lying  beside  him  unused, 
and  only  in  reserve  for  the  day  of  its  full  display,  when  he  receives 
the  crown  of  all  the  earth."  * 

Here  it  is  very  nakedly  affirmed  that  Christ  is  not  now^ 
nar  ever  yet  has  beenyOn  any  throne  of  his  own — and  con&u 
quently  is  king  as  yet  in  no  proper  sense  of  the  term  ;  that 
his  present  exaltation  is  not  in  his  own  right — that  he  is 
occupying  another's  throne — swaying  another's  sceptre — 
wielding  another's  power. 

But  may  not  this  be  but  the  rash  language  of  an  indivi- 
dual writer  1     Is  the  sentiment  responded  to  by  the  ac- 

♦  "  Presbyterian  Review "  of  Mr.  Scott's  "  Outlines  of  Prophecy," 
Jaa.  1846,  pp.  469,  and  468, 9. 


Christ's  kingdom.  127 

knowledged  representatives  of  the  pre-millennial  scheme  ? 
Let  us  see. 

"  Sit  thou,"  says  Dr.  M'Neile,  '  on  my  right  hand  until" — when'? 
when  thou  wilt  leave  my  right  hand  and  sU  on  thine  own  throne 
....  when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  tlie  kingdom  which  he  at  present 
enjoys,  where  he  wields  the  authority,  the  universal  kingdom  of  God — 
the  invisible  kingdom  of  providence.  When  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  (in 
the  exercise  of  his  present  almighty  authority  on  the  Father's 
throne)  have  subdued  all  things  unto  himself,  then  shall  he  be  pre- 
pared to  leave  the  Father's  throne,  and  set  up  his  own  kingdom  upon 
the  earth  as  the  second  Adam  * 

Let  us  now  hear  Mr  Bickersteth.  His  chapter  on  "  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ"  is  very  vague,  and  sometimes  seems 
to  concede  all  that  we  contend  for.  But  to  make  out  the 
futurity  of  Christ's  proper  kingdom  is  undeniably  the 
main  object  of  his  chapter.  For,  after  laying  down  five 
characteristics  of  that  kingdom  not  yet  realized,  and  which 
show  it  to  be  future^  he  adds,  "  There  is,  however,  a  pre- 
paratory and  spiritual  kingdom  already  established."!  In 
this  case,  of  course,  the  kingdom  must  be  organically  differ- 
ent from  any  thing  now  existing.  For,  as  yet,  only  the 
means  of  it  and  the  preparation  for  it  exist ;  and  it  is  im- 
possible that  the  means  and  the  end  should  both  be  of  the 
same  character, — that  the  preparation  and  the  thing  pre- 
pared for  should  not  be  essentially  different.^ 

*  Sermons  on  the  Second  Advent,  pp.  112-114,  5th  edition. 

t  Guide  to  the  Prophecies,  pp.  301,  302,  5th  edition. 

t  In  his  "  Divine  Warning  "  (p.  311,  note),  referring  to  the  vagueness 
which  I  have  ventured  to  ascribe  to  his  chapter  on  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ,  Mr.  Bickersteth  says,  that  '*  in  another  work  on  the  promised 
glory  of  the  Church,  he  has  entered  more  fully  into  the  subject."  F'rom 
the  Duke  of  Manchester's  remarks,  I  gather  that  it  is  the  Lent  Lectures 
for  1847  to  which  Mr.  Bickersteth  refers.  I  have  read  his  Lecture  in 
that  volume,  but  cannot  find  from  it  that  I  have  given  a  wrong  view  of 
Mr.  Bickersteth's  notion  of  the  Kingdom.  The  Duke  of  Manchester 
seems  to  think  I  have.    II  so,  it  is  after  much  pains  to  ascertain  the 


128  PRE-MILLENNIAL    THEORY    OF 

The  Duke  of  Manchester  is  equally  explicit. 

"  There  are  two  thrones,"  says  he,  "  mentioned  in  connexion  with 
Messiah,  one,  on  which  he  is  now  sitting,  the  other,  on  which  he  is 
hereafter  to  sit.  The  one  the  throne  of  God,  the  other  the  throne 
of  David  ;  the  one  for  a  limited,  the  other  for  an  unlimited  period. 
For  want  of  discriminating  between  the  two,  much  confusion  has 
been  created,  and  some  detriment  to  all  the  expressions  in  Scripture 
which  denote  eternity.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  lay  down  some  po- 
sitions respecting  the  kingdom  of  Messiah,  for  which  I  refer  to 
Appendix  D."  Turning  to  Appendix  D,  we  find  the  first  part  of 
it  devoted  to  proving  just  what  has  been  expressed  in  the  foregoing 
quotations,  that  the  present  "  session  or  reign  of  Christ  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,"  is  his  participation  in  the  Divine  government, — • 
that  "  his  ruling  now  for  God  implies  his  present  providential 
universal  presence," — that  "  the  supreme  kingdom  of  God  is  the 
one  which  he  gives  up  on  leaving  his  right  hand,  and  that  it  is  his 
OWN  KINGDOM  in  which  he  shall  reign,  when  he  appears,  for  ever  and 
ever."  * 

*'  The  notion,"  says  Mr.  Brooks,  "  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
signifies  the  present  visible  Christian  Church,  or  the  Christian  reli- 
gion in  the  hearts  of  God's  people,  or  both, — and  that  it  has  been 
manifested  to  the  ivorld  ever  since  the  establishment  of  Christianity, — is 

right  one,  and  I  should  deeply  regret  to  have  mistaken  him.  But  I 
think  I  have  not.  I  do  not  for  a  moment  doubt,  as  will  presently  be  seen, 
that  Mr.  Bickersteth  and  every  one  of  the  writers  I  quote  from,  includ- 
ing his  Grace  himself,  look  upon  Christ  as  now  exercising  saving  au- 
thority, and  that  in  a  royal  character.  But  what  I  wish  to  show  from 
their  own  writings  is,  that  as  they  are  looking  for  another  kingdom  of 
Christ  to  be  set  up  during  the  millennium,  and  that  his  own  in  a  peculiar 
and  emphatic  sense,  continually  reiterated,  his  present  kingdom  is  not 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  their  view 

*  Horae  Hebraicae,  pp.  89,  114-116.  The  capitals  are  the  author's 
own.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  combining  in  one  sentence  the  con- 
tents of  two  or  three. 

His  Grace  objects  to  my  classing  this  passage  along  with  what  I  have 
quoted  from  "  the  pre-millennialists,  as  it  was  actually  directed  against 
them."  But  I  think  he  will  admit,  that  in  so  far  as  it  was  directed 
against  the  ordinary  pre-millennial  view  of  the  "  giving  up  of  the  king 
doni,"  it  illustrates  my  point  nore  than  the  other  quotations. 


Christ's  kingdom.  129 

in  the  main  erroneous,  inasmuch  as  it  mistakes  the  -means  for  the 
end,  and  substitutes  what  may  be  considered  as  the  preparation  for 
the  kingdom,  for  the  establishment  and  manifestation  of  it."  * 

Nothing  can  be  more  explicit  than  this.  It  represents 
quite  correctly  what  we  hold, — that  the  proper  kingdom 
of  Christ  has  been  "  manifested  ever  since  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity."  In  direct  opposition  to  this,  Mr. 
Brooks'  doctrine  is,  that  we  have  never  yet  seen,  nor  till 
the  millennium  shall  see,  more  than  a  preparation  for 
Christ's  kingdom.  The  establishment  and  manifestation 
of  it  are  reserved  for  ''  the  thousand  years."  A  little 
farther  on  he  speaks  out,  if  possible,  still  more  clearly : — 

'*  If,"  says  he,  "  it  shall  appear  that  Christ's  kingdom  was  to  be 
manifested  under  this  present  dispensation,  then  it  will  be  evi- 
dent that  the  kingdom  was  to  be  nothing  more  than  the  prapaga- 
tio-n  of  Christ's  religion,  or  his  ruling  in  the  hearts  of  his  people,  or 
the  usual  sovereignty  of  God  vianifcsted  in  his  providential  govern- 
vient ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  it  shall  appear  that  it  was  not  in  its 
primary  sense  to  be  manifested  under  this  dispensation,  and  Jtas  not  been 
vianifcsted,  then  it  determines  that  its  character  will  necessarily  be 
something  far  more  exalted  and  different  from  what  has  hitherto 
been  witnessed."  -f 

Just  so.  If  the  kingdom  of  Christ  neither  was  to  be, 
nor  has  been,  manifested  during  this  dispensation — if  it  is 
to  commence^  as  a  proper  kingdom,  only  with  the  millen- 
nium. Mr.  Brooks  is  perfectly  right  in  concluding  that  its 
CHARACTER  '*  wiU  neccssarily  be  something  different  from 
what  has  been  hitherto  witnessed." 

But  Mr.  Brooks  seems  to  qualify  his  statement,  by  say- 
ing, "  It  was  not  to  be  manifested  in  its  primary  sense 
under  this  dispensation"  I  should  like  very  much  to 
know  what  this  means  For  at  the  outset  of  his  chapter 
on  the    Kingdom  of    Christ,  from   which  this  extract    is 


•  Elem.  of  Propht.  Interp.,  p.  182.  t  Ibid.,  pp.  190,  191. 


ISiO  Christ's  kingdom — explanations. 

taken,  we  Lave  found  him  saying,  that  those  who  think  the 
kingdom  is  already  established,  "  mistake  the  means  for  tht 
END,  and  substitute  what  may  be  considered  as  the  pre 
PARATiON  for  the  kingdom,  for  the  establishment  and  mani 
FESTATioN  of  xtP  So  that  after  all,  this  "  'primary  sense" 
in  which  Mr.  Brooks  seemed  willing  to  allow  that  the 
kingdom  '•  was  to  be  manifested,  and  has  been  manifested, 
during  this  present  dispensation,"  turns  out  to  be  no 
sense  at  all.  The  millennial  state  of  things  is  the  end ; 
the  present  is  but  the  means.  The  kingdom  of  Christ 
no  more  exists  now,  than  the  preparation  for  a  thing 
is  identical  with  the  establishment  and  manifestation  of 
the  thing. 

Here,  then,  I  join  issue  with  these  writers,  affirming  as 
follows  : — 

PROPOSITION  FIFTH  : 

Christ's  proper  kingdom  is  already  in  being;  commen- 
cing FORMALLY  ON  HIS  ASCENSION  TO  THE  RIGHT  HAND 
OF    GOD,    AND     CONTINUING   UNCHANGED,    BOTH    IN    CHARAC- 


To  guard,  however,  against  mistakes,  let  the  following 
explanations,  which  I  give  once  for  all,  be  borne  in 
mind  : — 

(I.)  It  is  not  meant  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  was  in 
no  sense  in  being  before  his  ascension  in  our  nature  to 
the  right  hand  of  power.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  maintain- 
ed that  the  whole  grace  of  the  Mediator,  in  all  his  offices,  is 
put  forth  in  the  salvation  of  every  soul  that  is  saved,  as 
well  before  his  incarnation  as  after  it ;  and  more  particu- 
larly, that  in  the  administration  of  the  new  covenant  and 
government  ^f  the  Church  before  the  fulness  of  time,  there 
was   as  rea    an  exercise  of  the  Redeemer's  proper  sove- 


EXPLANATIONS.  131 

reignty  as  there  has  been  since  his  ascension,  or  ever  will 
be  till  the  end  of  time.  Still  we  are  explicitly  told,  that  "  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  not  given^^ — up  to  the  period  of  Christ's 
ascension — "  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified.''^ 
(John  vii.  39.)  And  in  whatever  sense  the  Spirit  was  not 
given  till  Christ  was  glorified,  in  that  same  sense  were  hia 
offices  not  exercised.  What  that  sense  is,  is  well  enough 
known/.  All  the  grace  that  ever  was  put  forth  before  the 
Redeemer's  death,  was  given  on  the  credit  of  it.  It  being 
to  the  Divine  mind  infallibly  certain,  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  that  at  the  appointed  time  Christ  would 
suffer,  it  was  held  done  and  accepted  in  the  court  of  heaven, 
and  authority  given  from  the  very  first  to  extend  salvation 
to  as  many  of  his  people  as  should  live  before  his  incarna- 
tion ;  in  other  words,  to  bring  all  the  mediatorial  offices 
into  play,  through  the  Spirit's  agency,  from  the  very  date 
of  the  fall.  When,  however,  the  great  Sacrifice  was 
actually  offered,  and  when  on  his  presenting  himself,  in  the 
merit  of  it,  before  the  Majesty  on  high,  it  was  actually  ac- 
cepted, his  title  to  save  wsls  formally  recognized.  a.nd  himself 

FORMALLY    INSTALLED    IN    OFFICE.         "  The    Holy    Ghost    WaS 

then  given,  because  that  Jesus  was  now  elorified," — given 
now  for  the  first  time,  not  actually  but  formally,  having  iL ; 
legal  ground  now  for  the  first  time  palpably  laid  in  the 
finished  and  accepted  work  of  the  blessed  Surety. 

Let  it  then  be  clearly  understood  in  what  sense  I  speak 
of  Christ's  kingdom  as  commejicing  at  his  ascension. 
Scripture  speaks  so :  and  though  it  is  right  to  guard 
against  misapprehension  in  the  use  of  such  language,  it  is 
not  right,  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  it,  to  adopt  other  ways 
of  speaking,  lest  with  the  change  of  language  we  insen- 
sibly slide  into  a  change  of  conception,  and  miss  what  God 
designs  to  teach  us.  So  much,  then,  for  the  co mm fn cement 
of  the  kingdom.     But, 


132  EXPLANATIONS. 

(2.)  When  it  is  said  that  Christ's  kingdom  will  con- 
tinue in  its  present  form  till  the  final  judgment,  it  is  not 
meant  that  it  will  absolutely  termi?iate,  as  Christ's  kingdom, 
even  then.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  maintained  that  there  is 
a  glorious  sense  in  which  it  will  be  "  the  everlasting  king- 
dom of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ" — "  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  and  of  God"  What  that  sense  is,  T  shall 
by  and  by  have  occasion  to  consider.  All  that  is  here 
meant  is,  that  Christ  will  not  hereafter  occupy  his  throne 
for  the  same  purposes  as  now — for  putting  more  souls  in 
possession  of  salvation,  and  for  perfecting  any  thing  then 
incomplete  in  the  salvation  of  his  elect.  That  work  will 
terminate  :  and  it  is  with  reference  to  that,  and  that  alone, 
that  I  say  the  kingdom  of  Christ  will  then  terminate. 

(3.)  When  it  is  said  that  Christ's  kingdom  will  continue 
in  its  present  form,  from  the  period  of  his  ascension  on- 
wards until  the  final  judgment,  it  is  not  meant  that  its  pro- 
gress will  be  uninterrupted  and  equable  throughout- 
marked  by  no  mighty  changes  in  its  external  aspect,  in  its 
relative  position,  and  in  the  development  of  its  internal 
character.  The  very  contrary  is  maintained,  as  will  after- 
wards appear.  What  is  meant  is,  that  its  external  ad- 
ministration wiM  continue  the  same, — that  its  constitution, 
structure,  organic  form,  will  remain  unaltered, — that  no 
new  economical  arrangements,  or  change  of  dispensation, 
will  be  introduced  from  the  commencement  to  the  close  of 
its  earthly  career. 

I  hope  these  explanati  ms  will  make  my  proposition 
clear,  and  serve  to  bring  this  question  about  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  to  a  definite  issue.  There  is  much  need  of  this. 
Pre  millennialists  never  grapple  with  the  question.  Wherein 
lies  the  essence  of  Christ's  proper  rule  as  a  King  ?  They 
tell  us  "  there  is  a  sense  in  which  Christ  was  a  kinoj,  even 
during  his  humiliation  ; — a  sense  in  which  he  is  now  a  king 


EXPLANATIONS.  133 

— 'exalted  a  Prince  and  a   Saviour  to  gm  /epentance  to 
Israel,  and  remission  of    sins  ;'  and  a  seme  in  which  tlie 
kingdom  of  Christ  is  still    future — when  'dominion    and 
glory  and  a  kingdom   shall  be  given  him,  that  all  people, 
nations,  and   languages   should  serve  and  obey  him.'  after 
the  destruction  of  the  fourth   beast."  *     But  when  we  ask 
them  what  that  "  sense"  is  in  which  they  couhider  Christ 
to  be  noio  acting  the  King — what  sort  of  royalty  they  as- 
cribe to  him  when  he  'gives  repentance  to  Israel,  and  the 
remission  of   sins,'  all  the  answers   given    leave    us  very 
much  in  the  dark.     To  admit  that  Christ  is  now  a  king, 
inasmuch  as  he  is  now  giving  repentance  and  remission  of 
sins,  can  mean  nothing  more  than  this,  that   though  these 
be  in  some  sense  royal  acts,  they  are  not  the  acts  of  Christ's 
proper  royalty^ — that  being  still  future.     If  this  be  not  the 
meaning   intended,  I  despair  of  finding  it    out.     I   have 
tried,  but  can  make  nothing  more  of  it.     I  ask  again.  Is 
mediatorial  and  saving  rule  the  proper  and  formal  character 
of  Christ's  kingdom  ?     If  it  be,  of  course  the  kingdom  is 
already  in  being,  the  king  already   on   his  proper  throne, 
and  the  reiterated  and  emphatic  denials  of  this  by  our  op- 
ponents must  be  given  up.  as  dishonouring  to  Christ.    Bui 
if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  kingdom  of  Christ  be  yet  future, 
and  himself  not  yet  on  the  throne  of  it,  it  is  self  evident 
that  his  kingly  ofiice  can  have  nothing  essentially  to  do  with 
salvation  ;  for  that  is  going  on  without  it.    It  is  inconceiv 
able  that  salvation  should  stand  in  need  of  an  office  not  ye 
in  exercise — that  it  should  be  dependent  at  all  upon  ai 
office  not  to  be  assumed,  or  at  least  not  to  come  into  play, 
till  the  millennium.     If  Christ's  proper  royalty  can  be  dis- 
pensed with   till  then,  and  the  economy  of  salvation  be  in 

*  Mr.  Wood's  "  Affirmative  Answer,"  pp.  37,  38.     See  also  Mr.  Hick 
ersteth's  and  Mr.  Brook's  Chapters  on  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 


a34  apostolic  views 

full  operation  notwithstanding,  it  cannot  be  indispensable 
to  salvation  at  all.* 

With  these  observations  I  now  proceed  to  the  proof  of 
our  proposition — that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  already  in 
being ;  that  commencing  strictly  and  formally,  on  his  ses- 
sion at  the  right  hand  of  God,  it  is  destined  to  continue 
unchanged  hi  character  or  form  till  the  final  judgment. 

Here  I  take  my  stand  upon  the 

APOSTOLIC    VIEWS    OF    CHRIST's    KINGDOM 

As  contained  in  the  numerous  addresses  to  the  Jews 
which  we  find  in  the  Acts,  and  some  subsequent  state- 
ments in  the  apostolic  epistles. 

*  It  may  be  said  here,  that  as  I  have  admitted  Christ's  oflBces  to  have 
been  in  exercise  before  the  time  of  their  formal  assumption,  others  may 
surely  hold  the  time  for  assuming  the  kingdom  to  be  yet  future,  without 
denying  Christ's  present  royalty.  The  answer  to  this  is  very  plain.  If 
they  held  the  royalty  in  both  cases  to  be  of  the  same  character,  we  could 
understand  the  reply.  But  it  is  not  so.  We  hold  that  the  sovereignty 
which  Christ  exercised  before  his  incarnation  was,  in  its  formal  nature, 
precisely  the  same  as  he  is  now  exercising.  Its  foundation,  in  his  fin- 
ished work,  which  was  then  only  assumed  to  exist,  has  now  indeed  been 
actually  laid.  The  Redeemer  has  now  been  formally,  as  before  his  in- 
carnation he  was  virtually,  installed  in  office.  But  that  is  all  the  dif- 
ference, upon  our  principles.  We  do  not  make  Christ's  kingly  rule 
before  his  coming  to  be  but  the  means,  and  his  present  rule  to  be  the 
end ;  but  hold  that,  under  both  economies,  one  and  the  same  sceptre 
was  wielded  over  the  kingdom  by  its  proper  King  and  Head,  and  in  the 
exercise  of  his  proper  sovereignty.  Now,  it  is  just  the  reverse  of  this 
that  our  friends  aflBrm  ;  namely,  that  the  rule  proper  to  Christ — the 
kingdom— has  never  yet  been  in  existence.  In  this  case,  it  cannot  be 
formally  of  a  saving  character.  Salvation  does  not  need  it.  It  can  go 
on,  as  it  has  for  thousands  of  years  gone  on,  quite  well  without  it.  Men 
needed  the  exercise  of  the  prophetical  and  the  -priestly  offices  of  Christ 
for  their  salvation ;  but  they  can  be  saved,  it  seems,  without  the  exer- 
cise— without  even  the  assumption — of  his  kingly  office,  in  the  strict  and 
"oroper  sense  of  the  term  "  King." 


OF  Christ's  kingdom.  135 

If  any  where,  surely  we  may  expect  light  here.  The  one 
question  between  the  Christian  Jews  and  their  unbelieving 
countrymen  was  about  the  kingdom — what  was  the  nature 
of  it.  The  overwhelming  majority  of  the  Jewish  Church 
and  nation  rejected  the  claims  of  Jesus  to  be  their  Messiah, 
solely  because  he  was  not  the  sort  of  king  they  thought  they 
had  good  reason  from  the  prophecies  to  look  for,  and  be- 
cause the  kingdom  which  he  announced,  and  of  which  he 
claimed  to  be  the  sovereign,  was  quite  diflferent  from  what 
they  imagined  the  ancient  prophets  had  foretold.  This  was 
definite  ground,  and  it  was  not  taken  without  delibera- 
tion. 

When  the  Baptist  announced  Messiah's  approach,  every 
thing  concurred  to  give  weight  to  his  testimony.  Guided 
by  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  by  the  chronological  predic- 
tions, expectation  was  every  where  awake  for  the  first  sound 
of  Messiah's  footsteps.  From  all  parts  of  the  country  they 
flocked  to  the  man  of  God,  who  cried  aloud  in  the  wilder- 
ness, "  Kepent  ye,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand : 
Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord ;  make  his  paths  straight." 
With  profound  and  breathless  attention  the  motley  group 
listened  to  the  exciting  tidings  ;  and  harsh  as  were  his 
accents,  rougher  though  some  of  his  speeches  were  than  the 
garment  which  he  wore,  they  willingly  bore  with  them, 
were  with  difficulty  restrained  from  mistaking  the  servant 
for  his  Master,  and  were  baptized  of  him  in  Jordan,  con- 
fessing their  sins.  Presently  the  Lord  himself  appears 
upon  the  stage  ;  and  the  Baptist  having  dutifully  handed 
his  disciples  over  to  him,  with  this  noble  testimony,  "  Be- 
hold the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world,"  retired,  and  was  little  more  heard  of  Thus,  her- 
alded, ^he  Saviour's  ministry  opened  with  every  advantage  ; 
and  crowds  followed  him,  as  they  had  done  the  Baptist, 
*•  trusting  that  it  was  he  who  was  to  redeem  Israel — saving 


136  SAME    GROUND    TAKEN 

them  from  their  enemies,  and  from  the  hand  of  all  i\i&\ 
hated  them." 

But  again  they  were  doomed  to  disappointment.  Every 
discourse  he  dciivered — every  expression  he  gave  of  the 
nature  of  his  kingdom — convinced  them  more  than  another 
that  he  was  not  the  king  they  were  looking  for,  nor  his  king-- 
dom  that  which  they  thought  the  prophets  had  assigned  to 
their  Messiah.  Under  this  persuasion,  the  most  majestic, 
miraculous,  and  moral  evidences  went  for  nothing  with 
them.  Disappointment  settled  down  into  chagrin  ;  cha- 
grin into  rage  ;  and  rage  into  a  settled  determination  to  deal 
with  him  as  a  blaspheming  impostor  according  to  law,  who 
must  die  the  death  It  was  done.  But  lo  !  they  had  laid 
the  foundations  of  that  kingdom  which  his  forerunner  and 
He  had  announced  as  at  hand  ;  and  this  was  just  the  glad 
tidings  which  all  the  ajmstks  went  forth  avion g  their  country- 
men to  froclaim.  The  burden  of  all  their  recorded  addres- 
ses is  just  this,  that  the  nation  had  misunderstood  the  pro- 
phets^ and  had  mistaken  the  nature  of  the  kingdom  which  they 
predicted ;  that  it  was  in  being  while  they  spoke,  and  not  a 
kingdom  of  this  world,  as  they  supposed,  but  a  kingdom 
of  Salvation  or  of  Grace ;  whose  foundation  was  that  ac- 
cursed death  which  they,  in  their  ignorance,  had  imagined 
to  be  the  end  of  all  the  claims  of  its  King ;  and  whose 
Bule^  from  the  seat  of  his  exaltation  in  the  heavens,  was 
purely  a  mediatorial  and  saving  sway. 

If  this  be  a  correct  representation  of  the  apostles'  ad- 
dresses to  their  unbelieving  countrymen,  it  obviously  cuts 
up  the  pre-milleunial  view  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Nay, 
it  places  the  pre-milleunialist  and  the  unbelieving  Jew  ia 
the  same  category  as  respects  the  auestion  in  hand,  both 
holding  the  same  error  on  the  subject  of  the  kingdom  which 
the  apostles  set  themselves  to  overthrow.  The  error,  say  the 
pre-milleunialistSj  into  which  the  Jews  fell,  was  that  of  over 


BY  PRE-MILLENNIALISTS  AND  UNBELIEVING  JEWS.    137 

looking  the  distinction  between  the  first  and  second  com- 
ings of  the  Messiah  ;  the  one  in  suffering,  and  the  other  in 
glory  ;  the  one  to  save  men's  souls,  and  the  other  to  erect 
his  kingdom  upon  earth.  As  the  latter  is  the  theme  of 
most  of  the  prophecies,  they  were  so  carried  away  by  the 
expectation  of,  and  desire  for  it.  that  they  missed  altogether 
the  former,  which,  though  occupying  less  space  in  the  pro- 
phecies, is  intrinsically  more  important. 

I  think  I  have  here  rightly  represented  what  they  say. 
It  is  somewhat  entertaining,  however,  as  well  as  instruc- 
tive, to  observe  in  what  light  the  sensible  Jews  of  modern 
times,  who  have  given  attention  to  the  question,  and  written 
in  justification  of  their  rejection  of  Jesus,  regard  this  repre- 
sentation of  the  matter.  They  look  upon  it  as  a  mere  after- 
thought, and  as  an  evasion  of  the  real  question  between 
Jews  and  Christians.  David  Levi,  in  his  "  Dissertations 
on  the  Prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,"  calls  it  "  a  mere 
chimera,  an  ignis  faluus,  notwithstanding  all  the  noise  and 
pother  that  has  been  made  about  it."*  Doubtless,,  pre- 
millennialists  have  much  more  spiritual  views  of  the  whole 
subject  than  an  unbelieving  Jew  can  be  supposed  to  have. 
But  they  both  oppose  those  views  of  the  kingdom  which 
we  maintain  ;  and  in  so  doing  they  use  arguments  identical 
in  substance,  and  only  diflfering  in  the  Christian  or  Anti- 
Christian  point  of  view  from  which  they  survey  their  com- 
mon ground  ;  as  will  be  evident  on  comparing  their  works 
together.  The  kingdom — sai/  both  alike — is  yet  to  come  : 
Jesus — say  both  alike — does  not  occupy  the  throne  of  the 
kingdom :  The  prophecies  relating  to  Messiah's  kingdom 
remain  3'et  to  be  fulfilled — say  both  alike,  f 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  120.    Lond.  1817. 

t  "The  Jews,"  says  Mr.  Brooks,  '-understood  thein  (the  prophecies 
relating  to  the  kingdom)  in  their  appropriate  and  harmonious  semCy 
though  not  perhaps  in  iheixfuU  fonse  ;  and  the  wonde^-  is,  riot  that  thisy 

m2 


138  APOSTOLIC    VIEWS    OF 

I  have  said — and  I  entreat  the  reader's  attention  to  it— 
that  the  apostles,  in  pleading  with  their  unbelieving  coun« 
try  men,  take  up  precisely  our  position  against  the.  pre-miU 
lennialisls  regarding  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  This  I  now 
proceed  to  make  good,  taking  up  one  or  two  of  the  apos- 
tolic addresses  as  they  are  given  in  the  Acts.     And, 

1.  We  have  the  famous  Pentecostal  sermon. 

"  Men  and  brethren,"  says  Peter — we  give  the  quotation  some- 
what in  brief—"  let  me  freely  speak  unto  you  of  the 
patriarch  David.  Being  a  prophet,  and  knowing  that  God 
hath  sworn  with  an  oath  to  him,  that  of  the  fruit  of  his 
loins  he  would  raise  up  Christ  to  sit  on  his  (David's)  thro7ie : 
He  seeing  this  before  spake  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 
This  Jesus  hath  God  raised  up,  whereof  we  all  are  witnesses. 
Therefore  being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and 
having  received  of  the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  he  hath  shed  forth  this.  Therefore  let  all  t/ie  house 
of  Israel  know  assuredly,  that  God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus, 
whom  ye  have  crucified,  both  Lor^  '^nd  Christ." — (Acts  ii. 
^  29-36.) 

Here  it  is  stated  as  explicitly  as  words  could  do  it,  that 
the  promise  to  David  of  Messiah's  succession  to  his  throne 
has  received  its  intended  accomplishment — that  God  has 
raised  up  Christ  to  sit  upon  that  throne,  in  the  resurrection 
and  exaltation  of  Jesus,  as  the  fruit  of  David's  loins,  to  the 
right  hand  of  power  ;  and  that  his  first  exercise  of  regal 
authority  from  the  throne  of  Israel  was  to  send  down  the 
Spirit,  as  had  that  day  been  done.  When,  moreover,  he 
adds  that  God  had  made  that  same  Jesus  both  Lord  and 
Christ,  he  manifestly  wished  to  be  understood — and  could 


should  have  thus  understood  them,  but  that  any  among  ourselves  shoula 
understand  them  otnerwise  ;  seeing  that  their  prbnary  and  most  obvious 
sense  is  so  plainly  accordant  with  the  Jewish  expectations.'^ — Elem.  ol 
Prophet.  Interp.  chap.  vi.  on  "The  Kingdom  of  Christ,"  p.  185. 


LORD    AND    CHRIST THRONE    OF    DAVID.  139 

not  fail  to  be  understood — as  affirming,  that  his  present  ex* 
altation  was  his  proper  lordship  or  royally^  as  Messiah.  And 
finally,  when — as  if  emitting  a  solemn  testimony — he  calls 
upon  "  all  the  house  of  Israel  to  know  this  assuredly,"  it  is 
quite  clear  that  he  knew  how  unwelcome  his  view  of  Mes- 
siah's lordship  would  be  to  Jewish  ears — requiring  them 
not  only  to  believe  that  the  predicted  Messiah  and  king  of 
the  Jews  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  but  that  their  notions  of 
the  Messiahship  itself,  and  of  the  royalty  attached  to  it, 
were  all  wrong  ;  that  it  was  this  erroneous  view  of  the  pro- 
phetic testimony  respecting  Messiah  which  had  plunged 
them  into  the  perpetration  of  the  greatest  of  all  crimes,  and 
the  removal  of  which,  when  the  veil  should  be  taken  away, 
would  revolutionise  the  Jewish  mind. 

Pre-millennialists  scout  the  notion  of  Christ's  now  sitting 
on  David's  throne,  and  ask  a  great  many  questions  as  to 
the  points  of  analogy  between  the  throne  on  which  sat  the 
humble  son  of  Jesse  in  the  midst  of  his  subjects  in  Pales- 
tine, and  the  celestial  seat  of  the  Redeemer's  present  power. 
One  is  pained  at  the  flippancy  with  which  these  questions 
are  sometimes  put,  and  the  gross  principles  on  which  the 
point  is  decided.  In  whatever  sense  the  seat  of  Christ's 
present  rule  is  termed  David^s  throne^  the  fact^  I  will  ven- 
ture to  say,  is  indisputable.  That  Christ  js  now  on 
David's  throne,  is  as  clearly  affirmed  by  Peter  in  this  ser- 
mon as  words  could  do  it.  Let  any  one  read  his  words 
again,  and  see  if  it  be  possible  to  make  any  thing  else  out 
of  them.  Mr.  Wood  tries  it:  but  his  interpretation  is 
sufficient  to  show  the  hopelessness  of  the  task. 


"We  maintain  (says  he)  that  this  passage  asserts  that  DaviH 
knew  that  Christ  was  to  sit  upon  his  (David's)  throne,  and  that 
moreover  he  had  himself  prophesied  that  he  should  sit  at  Qod'a 
right  hand  until  his  enemies  were  made  his  footstool ;  that  is,  cu 


140 


THRONE    OF    DAVID. 


we  believe,  until  the  time  should  come  when  he  should  sit  down  on 
the  throne  of  David,  and  therefore  he  prophesied  of  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  and  not  of  his  own,  just  as  it  was  of  Christ, 
and  not  of  himself,  that  he  said,  the  Lord  said  to  my  Lord,  Sit 
thou  at  my  right  hand,  until  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  foot- 
stool."* 

This  strange  style  of  interpretation  reminds  me  of  a  dis- 
cussion I  once  had  with  a  zealous  follower  of  Joanna  South- 
cote,  who  applied  to  the  child  of  that  deluded  woman  the 
words  of  the  prophet,  "  Behold  a  virgin  shall  conceive  and 
bear  a  son,  and  shall  call  his  name  Immanuel."  But  are 
we  not  (said  I)  expressly  told  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  that  it 
was  done  in  fulfilment  of  this  prediction  ?  Not  at  all, 
replied  our  ingenious  disputant.  Look  again  at  the  evan- 
gelist's words,  "  This  was  done,"  not  in  fulfilment  of  the 
prediction,  but  '•  that  it  miffht  be  fulfilled  "  in  another  per- 
son, and  at  a  future  time  :  Christ's  birth,  then,  merely 
prepared  the  way  for,  or  was  a  necessary  step  in  the  march 
of  events  which  were  to  bring  about  the  fulfilment  of  that 
famous  prediction.  And  what  else  is  the  character  of  Mr, 
Wood's  version  of  the  words  of  Peter  1  "  David,"  says  the 
apostle,  "  knowing  that  God  would  raise  up  Christ  to  sit 
upon  his  tlirone,  spake  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ :  Thia 
Jesus  (accordingly)  hath  God  raised  up."  So  he  has,  says 
Mr.  Wood,  but  only  to  sit  on  David's  throne  at  some  future 
time.  "  Christ's  resurrection,"  says  Peter,  "was  done  that 
it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  David,  that  he 
would  sit  upon  his  throne."  Yes,  says  my  respected 
brother,  but  it  was  done,  not  infulfdment  of  the  prediction, 
but  only  that  it  might  be  fulfilled — to  prepare  the  way  for 
the  future  fulfilment  of  the  prediction. 

On  the  contrary,  Peter  evidently  wished  the  people  to 
understand,   that   Christ   was    already   swaying   the    only 

*  Affirmative  Answer,  p.  50. 


THE    PRIEST    UPON    HIS    THRONE.  I4l 

sceptre  they  had  to  look  for  in  their  Messiah : — saying  in 
effect,  The  kind  of  royalty  ye  have  been  looking  and  long- 
ing for  is  a  phantom  ;  but  the  reality  is  already  in  being. 
*'  Messiah  the  Prince"  already  sits  enthroned  on  high, 
in  the  person  of  the  crucified  but  risen  Nazarene,  ready  to 
dispense,  not  the  poor  honours  of  an  earthly  sovereignty 
— for  the  Rule  of  David's  Successor  is  not  like  the  rule  of 
David  himself — but  "  repentance  to  Israel,  and  forgive- 
Dess  of  sins:"  God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus  whom  ye 
have  crucified  "  both  Lord"  to  rule,  '•  and  Christ"  to 
Save  you ! 

In  this  view  of  the  apostle's  meaning,  it  is  but  a  trans- 
lation, into  New  Testament  language,  of  Zechariah's  ma- 
jestic prediction, 

*'  Behold  the  man  whose  name  is  The  Branch ;  and  he  shall  grow 
up  out  of  his  place,  and  he  shall  build  the  temple  of  the 
Lord :  Even  he  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  he 
shall  bear  the  glory ;  and  He  shall  sit  and  rule  upon  his 
Throne,  and  he  shall  be  a  priest  upon  his  throne,  and  the 
counsel  of  peace  shall  be  between  them  both." — (Zech.  vi.  12, 
13.)* 

♦  Mr.  Wood  throws  this  glorious  prediction  of  Messiah's  royal  priest- 
hood into  the  millennium,  and  he  thinks  the  context  proves  it  future. 
I  wish  I  could  say  that  in  this  he  stands  alone.  But  there  is  too  much 
of  this  tendency,  in  the  whole  pre-millennial  school,  to  futarize  the 
most  precious  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament.  In  the  "  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Prophecy  "  (No.  I.,  Oct.  1848),  there  is  a  Paper  entitled 
"Objections  and  Difficulties,"  in  which  this  prophecy  of  the  union  of 
the  kingly  and  priestly  offices  in  the  person  of  the  Messiah  is  declared  to 
be  a  prediction  of  Christ's  millennial  glory—'  He  shall  be  a  Priest  upon 
his  throne.'  "  This  verse  (says  the  writer)  is  commonly  (he  should  have 
said  universally,  and  in  all  time,  with  the  sole  exception  of  a  handful  of 
pre-millennialists)  interpreted  of  the  present  time.  Christ,  it  is  said,  is 
now  upon  his  throne,  and  is  executing  at  once  the  offices  of  a  priest  and 
of  a  king.  This  interpretation,  however,  appears  to  be  entirely  erroneous." 
'  He  then  assigns  soMe  reasons  for  holding  the  union  of  offices  therein 
set  forth  as  wholly  future— reasons,  on  the  strength  of  which  it  were 


142         THE  LAMB  IN  TJIE  MIDST  OF  THE  THRONE. 

And  is  not  this  precisely  what  is  sccnically  represented 
in  the  vision  which  the  rapt  apostle  beheld  in  Patmos,  I 
mean  the  present  priestU/  or  saving  rule  of  Jesus  over  his 
Church,,  and  over  all  thii.gsfor  his  Churches  sake  ? 

"  And  I  beheld,  and,  lo !  in  the  midst  op  the  throne  and  of  the 
four  living  creatures,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  elders,  stood  a 
Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain,  having  seven  horns  and  seven 
eyes,  which  are  the  seven  spirits  of  God,  sent  forth  into  all 
the  earth."— (Rev.  v.  6.) 

Here  is  "  the  Priest''^ — the  Lamb  of  God  ;  and  that 
Priest  '•  upon  his  Throne ;"  Here  he  is  seen  '*  building  the 
temple  of  the  Lord" — sending  forth  for  this  purpose  those 
eyes  and  horns  of  his,  "  the  Spirit  of  counsel  and  of  mighV^ 
(Isa.  xi.  2),  into  all  the  earth,*  to  bring  its  inhabitants 
under  his  benign  sway :  And  here,  certainly,  he  is  seen 
"  bearing  the  glory"  in  those  rapturous  hallelujahs  poured 
into  his  ear — ("  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,"  &c.) — ■ 
BO  dear  to  the  heart  and  sweet  upon  the  lips  of  his  redeemed 

easy  to  expel  the  Christianity  which  we  fondly  thought  we  had  found  in 
fifty  other  prophecies,  till  at  length  we  were  within  sight  of  the  Jews'  con- 
clusion, that  Christianity  in  the  Old  Testament  is  an  impertinence, 
which  a  thorough-going  hteral  interpretation  of  it,  with  proper  regard  to 
the  context  and  scope  of  each  prophecy,  would  show  to  have  no  place 
and  no  business  there.  .  .  It  is  the  vice  of  the  pre-millennial  theory, 
that  it  of  necessity  hands  over  to  the  future,  and  to  a  new  and  unique 
dispensation,  whole  masses  of  prophecy,  which,  in  the  view  of  the  great 
bulk  of  the  true  Church  in  all  time,  belong  to  the  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit — to  the  economy  of  the  Gospel — to  Christianity  just  as  it  now 
exists,  with  its  present  Word  and  its  present  Spirit,  as  competent  to 
affect  all  that  is  predicted.  Once  make  the  throne  of  David,  as  occupied 
by  Christ, /u^ure  and  local,  and  it  will  go  hard  with  us  if  we  do  not  find 
ourselves  compelled  to  futurizc  one  gospel  prophecy  after  another,  till 
Christianity  itself,  as  a  present  thing,  hardly  remains  to  us  in  the  Old 
Testament.' — (Free  Church  Magazine,  Jan.  1849.) 

*  Compare  Zech.  iii.  9,  "  Upon  one  stone  (of  the  temple  of  the  Lord) 
shall  be  seven  eyes." 


i^^y^^ 


THE    KEY    OF    DAVit 

in  every  age.     Ai  the  date  of  the  vision  they  were  a  mere 
handful,  and  struggling  for  existence;  but,  speaking  for  all, 
they  anticipate  the  time  when  every  hostile  power  shall  go . 
down  before  them,  and  they  "  shall  reign  on  the  eaj-th." 

That  the  Redeemer  himself  identifies  his  present  sway 
with  the  Davidical  Rule,  is  clear  from  the  following  words 
of  his  epistle  to  the  Church  of  Philadelphia : — 

"  These  things  saith  he  that  is  holy,  he  that  is  true,  he  tha'J 
HATH  THE  KEY  OP  David,  he  that  openeth,  and  no  vian  shulteth; 
and  shutteth,  and  no  man  openeth ;  I  know  thy  works :  behold, 
I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door,  and  no  man  can  shut  it : 
Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple 
of  my  God,  and  he  shall  go  no  more  out,"  «fec, — (Rev  iii.  7, 
8,  12.) 

These  words  are  evidently  taken  from  Isa.  xxii.  22, 
where  the  Lord  tells  Shebna,  "  who  was  over  the  house," 
but  had  by  his  base  intromissions  brought  the  royal  house 
to  the  brink  of  ruin,  that  he  would  call  his  servant  Eliakim, 
and  would  clothe  him  with  his  robe,  and  strengthen  him 
with  his  girdle,  and  would  commit  the  government  into  his 
hand,  "  And,"  it  is  added,  "  the  key  of  the  house  of 
David  will  I  lay  upon  his  shoulder  ;  so  he  shall  open 

AND  none  SHALI  SHUT,  AND  HE  SHALL  SHUT  AND  NONE  SHALL 

OPEN."  When  Christ,  therefore,  claims  to  have  the  key  of 
David's  house,  so  as  to  open  and  shut  it  at  will,  his  mean- 
ing clearly  is,  that  he  has  that  antitypical  authority  in 
David's  house  which  Eliakim's  robe,  girdle,  and  key,  faintly 
shadowed  forth  ;  that  he  is  now  exercising  this  power  of 
"  the  key,"  as  he  did  to  the  Philadelphian  Church,  when  in 
opposition  to  a  party  "  calling  themselves  Jews  when  they 
were  not,  but  did  lie,"  and  who  had  denied  the  claim  of 
these  faithful  Philadelphians  to  a  church-standing  and 
church-privileges,  he  says,  "  Behold,  1  have  set  before  thee 


144  THE    THRONE    OF    DAVID. 

an  open  door,  and  no  man  can  shut  it."  But  if  Christ  ia 
now  using  "  the  key  of  the  house  of  David"  in  his  admi 
nistration  of  the  Church,  then  that  hoi^se  of  David — as 
Christ  is  ruler  in  it,  at  least — can  be  none  other  than  the 
Church  of  the  living  God  under  the  Redeemer's  regal  admi- 
nistration^ which  is  just  what  we  have  found  Peter  pressing 
on  the  unwilling  ears  of  his  carnal  audience. 

In  this  view  of  Christ's  "  having  the  key  of  the  house 
of  David  laid  upon  his  shoulder,"  can  it  for  a  moment  be 
doubted  that  we  have  the  true  and  only  sense  of  that  sub- 
lime prophecy  of  him  by  Isaiah,  where,  after  saying,  "  Unto 
us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  Son  is  given,"  he  adds,  "  and 

THE  GOVERNMENT  SHALL  BE  UPON  HIS  SHOULDER,"  aS  the 

supreme  Ruler  of  the  Church  1  And  if  this  be  the  sense, 
it  determines  the  meaning  of  '•  the  throne  of  David"  in  the 
next  verse  beyond  all  question.  After  summing  up  his 
august  titles  with  that  one,  "  The  Prince  of  Peace,"  which 
in  the  New  Testament  sense  of  "  peace" — by  the  blood  of 
his  cross — is  just  the  "  Priest  upon  his  Throne,"  the  pro- 
phet adds — 

**  Of  the  increase  of  his  government  and  peace  there  shall  be  no 
end,  UPON  tub  throne  of  David,  and  upon  ms  kingdom,  to 
order  it,  and  to  establish  it  with  judgment  and  with  justice 
from  henceforth  even  for  ever.  The  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
will  perform  this." — (Isa.  ix.  6,  7.) 

In  understanding  this  of  the  administration  of  Jesus  in 
the  Church — in  the  sove/reignty  and  the  grace  of  it,  the 
righteousness^  the  progress^  and  the  perpetuity  of  it — we 
would  appeal  to  the  reader  whether  we  have  not  given  a 
sense  equally  sound  and  soul-satisfying,  which  a  patient 
comparison  of  Scripture  with  Scripture  will  only  the  more 
confirm,  and  on  which  the  heart  can  repose  with  ever  grow- 
ing contentment. 


THE    KEY     AND    HOUSE    OF    LAVID.  145 

But  Jesus  says,  in  the  use  of  the  same  "  key  of  the 
house  of  David,"  to  the  faithful  of  Philadelphia,  "  Him 
that  overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my 
God,  and  he  shall  go  no  more  out" — as  if  he  had  said,  I 
will  not  only  admit  him  to  meaibership  in  the  Church  upon 
earth,  in  spite  of  all  pretended  excommunications  by  the 
"  synagogue  of  Satan  ;"  but,  in  virtue  of  my  office  as  Ruler 
in  the  house  of  my  God,  I  will  "  set  before  him  an  open 
door"  into  the  heavenly  temple,  and  make  him  a  fixture  in 
it,  to  go  no  more  out.  In  this  extended,  but  most  legiti- 
mate, application  of  ''  the  key  of  the  house  of  David,"  as 
it  is  on  Christ's  shoulder,  it  is  identical  with  his  own  con- 
solatory announcement  to  John  himself,  when  lying  pros- 
trate before  his  eflfulgent  majesty  as  one  dead  :  '•  He  laid 
his  right  hand  upon  him,  saying.  Fear  not,  I  am  the  First 
and  the  Last,  and  the  Living  One  ;  and  I  became  dead, 
and  behold  I  am  alive  for  evermore.     Amen.     And  I  have 

THE    KEYS    OF    DEATH    AND    OF     HADES."*       '  The    key    of  the 

world  of  spirits  is  mine,  to  bring  back  the  souls  of  my 
dead  people — the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect — from 
their  disembodied  state ;  mine,  too,  are  the  keys  of  the 
grave,  which  at  the  appointed  time  shall  yield  up  its  pre- 
cious deposit :  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  and  as. 
having  the  keys  of  my  Father's  house,  they  shall  find  its 
portals  on  the  resurrection-morn  flying  open  before  them, 
that  they  may  go  in.  never  more  to  go  out.' 

Thus  clearly  does  it  appear,  from  the  Redeemer's  lan- 
guage to  the  Church  of  Philadelphia,  that  "  the  house  of 
David"  is  the  house  of  God's  Church  or  people,  over  whom 
David  had  a  rule  of  a  very  inferior  kind  in  Palestine,  in 
comparison  with  that  to  which  it  ultimately  pointed  ;  that 

*  Eyw  eifjii  b  npoJros  Km  h  so^aroi,  kui  b  fcD*/'  Kai  eysvoiiiiv  vsKpof 

ro^i  Bavarov  Kat  tov  diov,  (In  this  order  the  concluding  words  are  found 
in  the  best  MSS.) 

n 


146  THE    PRINCE    OF    LIFE. 

"  the  key  of  David,"  or  of  "  David's  house,"  in  Christ's 
hand,  is  just  the  supreme  administration  or  rule  of  the 
Church ;  and  that  as  he  exercises  this  '  power  of  the  key' 
now  in  the  Church,  so  he  will  exercise  it  in  its  loftiest 
sense,  when  he  "  sets  before  his  victorious  people  an  open 
door"  into  the  heavenly  temple,  whence  they  shall  go  no 
more  out. 

II.  In  his  next  address — to  the  wondering  people  who 
stood  gazing  on  him  after  his  miracle  on  the  lame  man,  at 
the  beautiful  gate  of  the  temple — the  same  idea  is  expressed 
with  equal  brevity  and  beauty : 

*'  The  God  of  our  fathers  (says  he)  hath  glorified  his  Son  Jesus.''^ 
— that  is,  in  the  apostolic  sense  of  the  phrase,  hath  raised  him 
up  and  enthroned  him  in  the  heavens — "  whom  ye  delivered 
up.  ...  Ye  denied  the  Holy  One  and  the  Just,  and  desired  a 
murderer  to  be  granted  unto  you ;  and  killed  the  Prince  op 
•  Life,  whom  God  hath  raised  up  from  the  dead;  whereof  we 
are  witnesses." — (Acts  iii.  13-15.) 

Here  Messiah's  Princedom  is  not  only  admitted  but  pro- 
claimed ;  but  the  sense  given  of  it  is  as  opposite  as  the 
poles  from  the  Jewish  one,  and  expressly  intended  to  dis- 
place it.  He  lets  them  know  that  they  mistook  something 
else  than  the  time  of  the  kingdom — which,  according  to 
some,  was  all  they  did  mistake  about  it ;  that  its  whole 
nature  was  misconceived  by  them ;  that  it  was  for  the  dis- 
pensation of  "  life"  that  he  is  exalted  a  "  prince."  "  Ye 
killed  him  ;  yet  he  lives — the  Royal  Dispenser  of  Life  to 
the  dead — the  prince  of  life  to  save  you,''^ 

In  the  sequel  of  this  address  we  have  that  noble  passage 
about  "  the  times  of  restitution^^''  so  constantly  and  confi- 
dently  adduced  in  favour  of  the  pre-millennial  theory,  but 
which  I  think  completely  subverts  it 


THE    TIMES    OF    RESTITUTION.  147 

"  Repent  /e  therefore,  and  be  converted,  to  the  end  that  your 
sins  may  be  blotted  out ;  that  times  of  refreshing  may  come 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  he  may  send  Jesus  Christ, 
which  before  was  ordained  (or  preached  unto)  you :  whom 
the  heaven,  indeed,  must  receive  until  the  times  of  restitu- 
tion of  all  things,  which  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of 
all  his  holy  prophets  since  the  world  began."— (Acts  iii. 
19-21.)  * 

In  the  note  below,  the  reader  will  see  that  great  diver- 
sity exists  as  to  some  things  in  this  passage. f  But  as  this 
diversity  affects  but  slightly  what  I  have  to  observe  on  the 
words,  we  need  not  stay  upon  it  here. 

Whether  we  understand  the  "  restitution"  here  meant  of 
a  moral  or  a  physical  restitution,  or  both — considered  as  the 
burden  of  all  Old  Testament  prophecy,  and  requiring  com- 
plete accomplishment  ere  Christ  can  come — the  words  of 
the  apostle  are  clearly  subversive  of  a  millennial  state  after 

*  I  have  given  Mr.  Elliot's  version  {Hor,  Apoc.  iv.  208,  second  edition), 
with  two  slight  exceptions,  as  most  faithfully  expressing  the  sense  of 
the  text,  according  to  the  best  MS.  authority.  In  my  former  edition,  I 
was  too  closely  guided  in  my  remarks  by  the  textus  receptus,  and  over- 
looked the  imperfect  rendering  even  of  this  in  our  authorized  version. 
Even  Bengel,  I  observe,  who  adopts  the  reading  ^^fore-ordalncd" 
{vpoKextipKTutvov^  had  remarked  that  the  other  reading  ^^ fore-preached^^ 
{trpo  cKTtpvyfxevov),  is  scarcely  to  be  found  any  where.  All  subsequent 
critical  editors  adopt  the  former  reading,  and  their  authorities  seem  quite 
decisive. 

+  1.  What  is  meant  by  "  times  of  refreshing  " — whether  the  times  of 
the  gospel  generally,  as  some  with  Lightfoot  think  ;  or,  the  time  of  Is- 
rael's conversion — the  latter  day,  according  tc  VUringa  and  others  ;  or 
whether,  as  Co/ri/i  and  many  judge,  it  be  the  same  period  with  "the 
times  of  restitution,"  when  "He  shall  send  Jesus  Christ" — in  which 
last  case  the  "  blotting  out "  is  understood  in  the  well-known  sense  of  ' 
the  public  judicial  declaration,  at  the  great  day,  of  pardon  already  ob- 
tained upon  earth.  2.  Whether  we  should  read  ^*  which"  or  ^^  of  which 
God  hath  spoken.''*    3.  What  is  the  "  restitution"  here  meant. 

•  In  the  former  case,  w  is  attracted  by  the  preceding  rrairaH',  and  is  equivaleni 
to  2   or  ovi  (xatpovs). 


148  THE    TIMES    OF    RESTITUTION. 

Christ  comes.  For,  as  it  is  admitted  by  nearly  all  pre-rail« 
lennialists,  that  there  will  be  both  sin  and  death  during  the 
millennium,  and  that  after  the  thousand  years  a  vast  rebel' 
lion  will  break  out  upon  the  earth,  and  Jire  come  down  from 
heaven  and  consume  the  rebels. — how  can  it  for  a  moment 
be  alleged  that  the  restitution  of  all  things,  foretold  by  the 
prophets,  will  be  brought  about  before  the  millennium?  Mr. 
Elliott,  in  his  remarks  on  this  passage,  while  he  takes  a 
great  deal  of  pains  to  settle  the  sense  of  the  words,  says 
nothing  to  throw  light  upon  this  question. 

The  reader  may  observe  that,  in  quoting  the  words,  I  have 
inserted  the  particle  "  indeed"  (/^c ') — "  whom  the  heaven, 
indeed,"  or  "  however,  must  receive."*  It  is  as  if  the  apostle 
had  said,  '  I  have  told  you  that  the  return  of  Jesus  from  the 
heaven  must  be  preceded  by  the  "'times  of  refreshing," 
which  your  •'  repentance,  and  conversion,  and  forgiveness," 
as  a  nation,  will  bring  about ;  the  heaven,  however^  must 
receive  him  not  only  till  then,  but  till  the  times  of  restitu- 
tion of  all  things,  which  is  the  burden  of  prophecy.  But 
when  nothing  shall  remain  incomplete  in  the  kingdom  of 
God,  then  he  will  come:  Meantime,  '•  unto  you,  first,  God 
having  raised  up  (from  the  dead)  his  Sou  Jesus,  hath  sent 
him.  in  the  power  of  his  Spirit,  to  bless  you  in  turning 
away  every  one  of  you  from  his  iniquities.'" — (Y.  26.) 

This  famous  passage,  then,  instead  of  making  for  pre- 
millennialism,  tells  decisively  against  it.  And  I  may  add, 
it  was  one  of  the  passages  which  convinced  Joseph  Perry 
— pre-millennialist  though  he  was — that  there  could  be  no 
such  millennium  after  the  Lord's  coming  as  is  now  con- 
tended for. 

"  The  last  restitution,"  says  this  good  man,  "  or  the  restitution 

♦  Particula  fitv,  quideni,  apodosin,  cui  alias  autem  servit,  repreienta 
tk/o  habet  in  mittat,  versu  20.— (Bengel.) 


THE  disciples'  VIEW  OF   THE   SECOND   PSALM.        149 

of  all  things,  will  not  be,  as  I  conceive,  until  Christ's  personal  com- 
ing. As  the  heaven  '  received  him,'  so  it  will  retain  him  until  thia 
time,  in  which  all  things  shall  be  restored.  .  .  If  but  one  soul 
should  be  converted  after  Christ's  descension  from  heaven,  then 
must  he  come  before  the  restitution  of  all  things ;  Avhich  is  quite 
contrary  to  this  text ;  because  the  '  heaven  must  receive '  or  retain 
him  until  then.  What  though  this  restitution  of  all  things  takes  in 
the  restoration  of  the  creation  unto  its  paradisiacal  state :  yet  it  is 
certain  that  the  bringing  in  of  the  elect  by  regenerating  grace,  and 
completing  the  whole  mystical  body  of  Christ,  is  the  princi- 
pal part  of  that  restitution,  they  being  principally  concerned  in  it, 
and  for  whose  sake  all  other  creatures  are  to  be  restored ;  all  which 
plainly  shows  that  there  will  be  no  more  conversion  when  Christ  is 
come  ;  which  will  not  be  until  the  restitution  of  all  things,  as  before 
hinted."  * 

III.  In  the  following  chapter  we  have  a  touching  scene, 
and  a  bright  application  of  Old  Testament  scripture,  which, 
if  I  mistake  not,  is  as  subversive  of  the  pre-millennial,  as 
it  certainly  was  of  the  Jewish,  principles  of  interpretation, 
and  their  views  of  the  kingdom  :  '•  Peter  and  John  being 
let  go,"  hasten  "  to  their  own  company,  and  report  all  that 
the  chief  priests  and  elders  had  said  unto  them  ;"  on  which 
the  audience  give  vent  to  their  feelings,  and  commit  their 
now  critical  cause,  in  a  sublime  prayer,  to  Him  who,  having 
"  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them 
is,"  could  with  infinite  ease  sustain  them  ;  and  who,  '•  by 
the  mouth  of  his  servant  David,"  had  foretold  the  very 
things  that  were  then  happening  to  them.  And  to  which 
of  David's  psalms  are  their  thoughts  directed  ?  To  one 
whose  very  burden  is  tke  Throne  and  Kingdom  of  Messiah. 
Here  then,  if  any  where,  we  may  look  for  light.  Its 
topics  are  the  combined  attacks  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
rulers  against  this  Throne — the  derision  with  which  these 
are    regarded    by  Jehovah — the    immoveable   security  of 


*  The  Glory  of  Christ's  Visible  Kingdom,  &c.,  pp  224,  225. 


150       THE   DISCIPLES     VIEW  OF  THE  SECOND   PSALM. 

his  "  King  upon  his  hoi}  hill  of  Zion,"  whereon  he  hath 
set  him — and  the  certaiLtj  with  which  all  who  will  not 
"  kiss  the  Son,"  or  bow  their  hearts  and  bend  their  policy 
to  his  sceptre,  shall  be  "  dashed  in  pieces."  Pre-millen- 
nialists  make  all  this  future;  and  that  is  the  vice  of 
their  system.  "  It  was  not  in  its  primary  sense  to  be 
manifested  under  this  dispensation,  and  has  not  been 
manifested,"  say  they.  But  what  say  this  worshipping 
company  ?  They  apply  the  psalm,  beyond  all  contradic- 
tion, to  the  present  Sovereignty  and  Rule  of  Jesus  in  the 
heavens. 

"  The  kings  of  the  earth  stood  up," — say  they,  quoting  the  words 
of  the  psalm — "  and  the  rulers  were  gathered  together  against 
the  Lord  and  against  his  Christ.  For  of  a  truth  against  thy 
holy  chitd  Jesus,  whom  thou  hast  anointed,"  as  Messiah  or 
Christ,  "  both  Herod,  and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the  Gentiles, 
and  the  people  of  Israel,  were  gathered  together,  for  to  do 
what  thy  hand  and  thy  counsel  determined  before  to  be 
done."— (Acts  iv.  26-28.) 

In  the  estimation,  then,  of  this  band  of  primitive  disci- 
ples, "  the  vain  things  which  the  people  imagined,"  and 
which  the  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves  and  the  rulers 
took  counsel  to  accomplish,  was  just  to  overthrow  the  gra- 
cious Rule  of  Jesus,  whose  sweetness  they  were  then 
tasting  in  the  salvation  of  their  own  souls,  and  whose 
power  was  bracing  them  to  the  endurance  even  of  death 
for  his  name.  It  was  the  '•  bands"  of  this  saving  autho- 
rity over  men  which  they  saw  them  resolving  to  "  break 
asunder" — it  was  the  "  cords"  by  which  it  sought  to  bind 
them  in  believing  subjection,  which  they  saw  them  madly 
determining  to  "  cast  away  from  them."  And  if  this  view 
of  the  second  psalm  do  not  prove  that  the  proper  kingdom 
of  Christ  is  now  iii  existence — that  it  is  administered,  not 
from  a  poor  throne  at  Jerusalem,  but  from  the  heavens — 


THE    PRINCE    AND    SAVIOUR.  151 

and  that  it  consists,  strictly  and  formally,  in  the  royal  dis- 
pensation of  grace  by  him  as  a  Saviour,  and  the  saving 
rule  of  the  subjects  of  that  grace — it  is  difficult  to  con- 
ceive what  kind  of  evidence  would  be  held  competent  to 
establish  it. 

IV.  But  the  noblest  expression  of  the  idea,  which  we 
have  found  to  be  the  burden  of  Peter's  early  addresses  to 
his  unbelieving  countrymen,  as  well  as  the  favourite  con- 
ception of  Messiah's  Grace  and  Glory  amongst  the  converts, 
occurs  in  this  apostle's  second  speech  before  the  Jewish 
council,  when  being  demanded  why,  in  contravention  of 
their  peremptory  command  '•  not  to  teach  in  that  name," 
they  had  "  filled  Jerusalem  with  their  doctrine,  and  in- 
tended to  bring  that  Man's  blood  upon  them,"  Peter,  with 
the  heroism  of  faith,  replied, 

"  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men.  The  God  of  our  fathers 
raised  up  Jesus,  whom  ye  slew  and  hanged  on  a  tree.  Him 
hath  God  exalted  with  his  right  hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  a 
Saviour,  for  to  give  repentance  to  Israel,  and  forgiveness  of 
sins."— (Acts  v.  29-31.) 

Let  the  reader  put  himself  into  the  position  of  the  Jews 
whom  Peter  addressed,  whose  perverted  notions  of  the 
Princedom  of  their  promised  Messiah  inflamed  them  with 
such  "a  zeal  of  Grod  not  according  to  knowledge,"  as  to 
plunge  them  into  the  guilt  of  his  precious  blood  :  and  he 
will  be  satisfied  that  it  was  just  these  notions  which  Peter 
meant  to  dissipate,  and  in  place  of  them  to  lodge  in  their 
minds  a  view  of  the  Messiahship  to  them  altogether  new 
— to  describe  the  Princedom  of  Messiah  as  strictly  a  saving 
dignity — for  the  purpose  of  communicating,  with  royal 
authority  and  sovereign  power,  "  repentance  to  Israel,  and 
forgiveness  of  sins.''^     Indeed,  the  words  might  be  rendered 


152  APOSTOLIC    COMMENTARIES 

with  equal  fidelity,  and  bring  out  perhaps  quite  as  vividly 
the  idea  intended,  were  they  to  run  thus  in  English  (by 
what  the  critics  call  a  hendiadys) :  •'  Him  hath  God  exalted 
to  be  a  SAViouR-PRmcE  [  "  A  Priest  upon  his  Throne"], 
for  to  give  repentance,"  &c.* 

V.  Closely  connected  with  these  earliest  representations 
of  the  regal  dignity  and  kingdom  of  Messiah,  are  the  apos- 
tolic commentaries  on  that  massive  verse  of  the  hundred  and 
tenth  Psalm : 

"  Jehovah  said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand,  until 

I  MAKE  THINE  ENEMIES  THY  FOOTSTOOL." (V.  1.) 

I  refer  to  the  following : — 

David  is  not  ascended  into  the  heavens ;  but  he  saith  himself,  Je- 
hovah said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand,  until 

♦  I  have  to  apologise  to  the  Duke  of  Manchester  for  allowing  the  pre- 
ceding comments— on  Acts  iJ.,  iii.,  iv.,  v. — to  be  reprinted  before  observ- 
ing the  criticisms  which  he  directs  against  them.  His  grace  finds  fault 
with  me  for  omitting,  in  my  quotation  from  Peter's  first  sermon,  vv.  34, 
35,  which  has  caused  me  to  mistake  the  apostle's  argument,  and  to  con- 
found between  what  proved  Jesus  to  be  '*  Liord^''  which  he  now  is  in  the 
throne  of  God,  and  what  proves  him  "  Christ^''^  which  he  will  not  be  till 
he  sit  down  on  David's  throne  at  the  millennium. — (Pp.  306,  307.)  On 
this  I  have  only  to  observe,  that  I  am  not  acute  enough  to  see  it  in  Peter's 
sermon,  and  that  I  am  not  aware  of  any  commentator  who  has  detected 
it.  In  connexion  with  this,  his  Grace  points  out  "a  curious  mistake  " 
into  which  I  had  fallen,  "he  has  no  doubt  by  a  slip  of  the  pen" — 
nam.ely,  saying  a  p.  161  (first  edition),  "God  hath  made  that  same 
Lord"  (instead  of  "Jesus  ")  "whom  ye  have  crucified  .  .  .  Lord." 
This  mistake,  however,  "  could  hardly  have  escaped  observation  had  I 
perceived  how  much  the  argument  depended  on  the  personal,  and  not 
on  the  ofiicial  designation." — P.  307.  The  short  answer  to  all  this  i?, 
that  it  was  a  slip,  not  of  the  pen  at  all,  but  of  the  types  first,  and  then 
of  the  eyes,  in  not  observing  it.  One  or  two  verbal  alterations,  suggested 
by  his  Grace's  remarks,  I  have  made  as  the  sheets  were  passing  thn  ugh 
the  press 


ON    THE    HUNDRED-AND-TENTH    PSALM.  153 

I  MAKE  THY  FOES  THY  pooTSTOOL.  Therefore  let  all  the  house 
of  Israel  know  assuredly,  that  God  hath  made  that  same 
Jesus,  whom  ye  have  crucified,  both  Lord  and  Christ." — (Acts 
ii.  34-86.) 
"  This  man,  after  he  had  offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins,  for  ever 
SAT  DOWN  ON  THE  RIGHT  HAND  OP  GoD ;  from  hcnccforth  ex- 
pecting TILL    HIS  ENEMIES  BE  MADE   HIS  FOOTSTOOL." — (Heb.  X. 

12,  13.) 
"Then  cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the 
kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father ;  when  he  shall  have  put 
down  all  rule  and  all  authority  and  power.  For  he  must 
reign,  till  he  hath  "put  all  enemies  under  his  feet.  The 
last  enemy  shall  be  destroyed  [even]  death."  * — (1  Cor.  xv. 
24-26.) 

These  passages  afford  abundant  materials  for  settling  the 
whole  question  of  Christ's  kingdom.  Beautiful  is  the 
light  which  they  throw  upon  each  other.  "  Sit  on  my 
right  hand  (says  one  of  them),  till  I  make  thine  enemies 
thy  footstool."  "  He  must  reign"  (says  another)  till  that 
be  done  by  his  own  royal  hand.  "  From  henceforth," 
(says  the  remaining  passage) — from  the  time  of  this  glori- 
ous Session  and  Enthrojiizalion^  for  they  are  both  one — 
"  EXPECTING  till"  the  Father's  promise  to  do  it  for  him  be 
made  good.  He  has  entitled  himself  to  this  at  God's 
hand,  by  "  the  offering  of  that  one  sacrifice  for  sins,  for 
ever"  eternal  in  its  efficacy,  because  infinite  in  value.  On 
the  completion  of  this  work,  exalted  to  the  Father's  right 
hand — in  the  high  consciousness  of  his  own  merit  and  in 
full  assurance  that  the  promise  is  now  all  his  own,  our 
apostle  gets  a  glimpse  of  him  in  the  seat  of  power,  and  be- 
holds him  in  the  attitude  of  tranquil  "  expectancy,"  till  the 
enemies  of  his  regal  authority  be  made  his  footstool  :  an 
expectancy  commencing  from  the  first  moment  of  his  re- 
pose in  glory,  unruffled  amid  all    opposition,    and  unex- 

*  Eo-pi^aros  e^Opos  KarapyiiTai  b  ^ava-oi. 


154  THE    KINGDOM    TO    BE    DELIVERED    UP- 

bausted  by  tbe  longest  delays,  until  the  day  when  he  shall 
rise  up  to  the  prey.* 

On  the  last  of  these  passages — 1  Cor.  xv.  24-26 — pre- 
millennialists  get  into  inextricable  confusion,  and  come  in- 
to such  collision  among  themselves  as  to  subvert  the  doc- 
trine common  to  all  of  them,  and  establish  its  opposite.  It 
has  been  said,  indeed,  that  others  are  as  much  divided  on 
the  sense  of  the  passage  as  they.  But  that  is  a  mistake 
It  is  true  that  there  is  some  difference  between  Drs.  Owen 
Pye  Smith,  and  Symington,  on  the  '•  delivering  up  of  the 
kingdom."  But  what  is  it  ?  Just  a  diversity  of  concep- 
tion as  to  the  form  which  the  kingdom  of  Christ  shall 
assume,  and  the  position  which  Christ  himself  shall  occupy, 
in  the  everlasting  state.  On  this  point — involving  some  of 
the  most  delicate  distinctions  in  the  personal  and  official 
relations  of  the  triune  Jehovah,  and  in  the  economy  of 
grace — on  this  high  point,  my  own  views,  which  with  the 
deepest  humility  I  may  presently  try  to  express,  coincide, 
as  I  have  said,  pretty  much  with  those  of  my  opponents. 
But  this  has  nothing  to  do  with  our  question  about  the 
kingdom.  That  question  is  not.  What  is  meant  by  the 
"  delirering  up"  of  the  kingdom  ?  but.  What  is  the  king- 
dom to  be  delivered  up?  To  this  question  the  majority 
of  pre-millennialists  reply,  It  is  Christ's  proper  kingdom, 
not  yet  assumed — his  millennial  kingdom.     Nay — says  Dr. 

*  Noble  are  the  words  of  Calvin  :  In  excelsis  ergo  sedet,  ut  trans- 
fusa  inde  ad  nos  sua  virtute,  in  vilam  spiritualeni  nos  vivificet,  ut  Spiritu 
t^uo  sanctificet,  ut  variis  gratiarum  dotibus  ecclesiam  suam  exornet ;  ut 
protectione  sua  tutam  adversus  omnes  noxas  conservet,  ut  ferocientea 
crucis  suae  ac  nostras  salutis  hostes  manus  suae  fortitudine  coerceat,  de- 
nique  ut  oiunom  teneat  potestatem  in  coelo  et  in  terra:  donee  inimicoa 
onines  suos,  pui  etiam  nostri  sunt,  prostraverit,  acecclesiae  suae  aedifica- 
tionem  consummarit.  Atque  hie  verus  est  regni  ejus  status,  iiaec  po- 
testas,  quain  in  eum  contulit  Pater,  donee  ultimum  actum  ad  vivorum 
et  mortuorum  judicium  adveniens  compleai,  {Inst,  Christ.  Rdig.  Lib 
II.  cap.  xvi.  16.) 


WHAT    IT    IS.  155 

M'Neile,  the  Duke  of  Manchester,  and  several  others — it 
is  the  kingdom  over  which  Christ  is  now  placed,  and  which 
he  is  to  exchange  for  his  own — the  Davidical  throne  and 
kingdom — at  the  millennium. 

Here,  as  perhaps  in  every  instance  in  which  they  differ 
among  themselves,  there  is  a  portion  of  truth  on  both  sides, 
which  each  can  plead  against  the  other  with  resistless 
force — portions  of  truth  which  it  is  not  possible  to  har- 
monize but  by  abandoning  the  doctrine  common  to  both, 
and  falling  back  upon  that  to  which  both  are  with  equal 
zeal  opposed.     These  portions  of  truth  are  the  following : — 

On  the  one  hand,  it  is  beyond  all  controversy,  that  when 
the  apostle  says,  "  He  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  ene- 
mies under  his  feet,"  he  not  only  adopts  the  language^  but 
gives  the  sense  of  the  Psalm  (ex.  1,)  and  that  the  "  reign" 
spoken  of  is  his  present  authority^  as  the  "  enemies"  of  that 
reign  are  those  of  that  same  present  authority.  Mr.  Wood, 
and  those  who  take  his  view  of  the  passage,  may  deny  this 
"  as  entirely  unscriptural  ;"  *  but  it  will  be  in  vain.  The 
Duke  of  Manchester,  Dr.  M'Neile.  and  others,  who  take  the 
apostle  here  as  the  interpreter  of  the  Psalmist,  are  on  im- 
moveable ground  ;  and  no  one  would  ever  take  any  other 
view  of  the  passage  but  for  the  necessities  of  a  system.  To 
drag  the  apostle  here  into  the  millennium,  as  if  he  were 
speaking  of  the  enemies  of  a  milknnial  sovereignty,  is  of 
all  interpretations  the  most  preposterous. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  incontrovertible  that  the 
'•  reign"  here  spoken  of,  is  the  Redeemer's  Rule  in  his  own 
proper  kingdom,  as  the  enemies  are  those  of  that  rule. 
This  is  so  manifest,  that  Mr.  Wood,  in  asserting  it,  can 
etand  against  all  his  brethren  who  affirm  the  contrary. 
Observe  what  the  enemies  of  this  reign  are.     The  apostle 

*  Affirmative  Answer,  p.  36. 


156  THE    KINGDOM    TO    BE    DELIVERED    UP 

divides  them  into  two  classes — moral  and  physical.   Of  th 
former  class  he  thus  speaks :  '•  Then  comcth  the  end,  when 
he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule  and  all  authority  and  power." 
Will  this  be  done  before  the  millennium  ?     Have  we  not 
evidence  that  during  th^ii  bright  period  the  world's  subjec- 
tion to  the  sceptre  of  Christ  will  not  be  quite  absolute  ? — ■ 
(Zech.  xiv.  17-19.)  xind  after  it,  are  we  not  explicitly  told 
of  a  vast  confederacy  of  Christ's  enemies  to   arise  against 
the  camp  of  the  saints — (Rev.  xx.  7-9)  ?    When  Mr.  Wood 
therefore  affirms,  that  "  all  rule  and    all    authority    and 
power"  of  a  hostile  character  will  not  be   put  down  before 
the  millennium,  and  that  Christ  will  have  this  during  that 
period  to  do  in  the  exercise  of  his  proper  rule,  and  so  will 
not  deliver  it  up  till  after  the  millennium — he  is  on  solid 
ground.     Then   observe  the  otfier  class   of  enemies,  and  it 
will  be  still  more  evident  that  the  kingdom  is  delivered  up, 
not  before  but  after  the  millennium  :  •'  The  last  enemy  shall 
be  destroyed,  even  death  "     Now  deaths  being  a  physical 
evil,  can  be   but  a  passive  and  unconscious  "  enemy"   of 
Christ's  reign,  as  ''  the  wages  of  sin,"  as  the  boast  of  Satan. 
to  be  '•  destroyed"  with  •'  the  works  of  the  devil"  by  '•  the 
Seed  of  the  woman. '^     In  this  sense  of  death  as  an  enemy 
of  Christ,  it  must  be  held  as  including  all  physical  evils 
springing  from  the  fall,  and  similarly  hostile  to  the  ends 
of  Christ's  reign.     Thus   largely  understood,  not  even  Mr. 
Scott  can  very  well  maintain  that    "  death"  shall  be  de- 
stroyed before  the  millennium.     In  vain,  indeed,  does  he 
attempt  to  prove  that  death,  in  the  mere  fact  of  it,  will  not 
prevail  during  the  millennium.  But  even  he  seems  to  admit 
that  physical  as  well  as  moral  evils  will  remain,  to  some 
extent,  till    the  end   of  the   millennium.*     And  thus,  as 

*  Dr.  M'Neile,  in  the  volume  of  Lent  Lectures  just  published  (1849), 
entitled,  '♦  The  Priest  upon  his  Throne,"  takes  up  the  same  ground  as  Mr. 
Bcof  t ;  but  his  positions  and  the  illustrations  seem  to  me  directly  to  contra* 


WHAT    IT    IS.  157 

Christ  is  to  "  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his 
feet,"  Mr.  Wood,  and  those  who  agree  with  him,  are  upon 
impregnable  ground  in  maintaining  that  the  '•  reign"  here 
is  Chtist's  proper  reign,  and  the  "enemies"  those  of  his 
own  kingdom. 

These,  then,  are  the  portions  of  incontrovertible  truth, 
inaiutaiued  by  the  two  classes  of  pre-millennial  interpreters 
respectively.  The  one  class  hold,  upon  ground  that  can- 
not be  shaken,  that  the  "  reign"  spoken  of  in  this  famous 

diet  each  other,  and  to  exhibit  a  strange  mode  of  thinking  altogether. 
•'The  chief  particulars  (he  says)  of  that  state— the  state  of  the  earth 
when  Christ  comes — are  these  :  1.  There  shall  be  no  more  sin.  All  the 
then  inhabitants  of  the  earth  shall  be  righteous.  AH  shall  love  God,  and 
serve  God ;  so  that  his  will  shall  then  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven. 
Or,  if  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  shall  at  any  time  cease  to  do 
his  will  [in  other  words,  if  sin  do  break  out]  on  earth,  they  shall  instantly 
be  treated  as  those  angels  were  treated  who  ceased  to  do  his  will  in  hea- 
ven ;  that  is,  they  shall  be  cast  out.  From  a  passage  in  the  prophecies 
of  Isaiah  (Ixv.  20),  some  have  imagined  that  such  an  event  might  -possi- 
bly occur  during  the  thousand  yeirs  ;  that  a  man  who  had  lived  a  hun- 
dred years  without  sin  might  then  become  a  sinner,  and  that  if  so  he 
would  be  immediately  accursed.  That  such  an  event  shall  take  place  on 
a  large  scale  after  the  thousand  years,  seems  not  obscurely  predicted  in 
Rev.  XX.  7-10.  Bat  in  no  case  shall  the  holiness  of  Messiah'' s  kingdom  be 
interfered  with,  any  more  than  the  holiness  of  heaven  was,  by  the  great  re- 
bellion there  of  Beelzebub  and  his  associate.  'Of  his  kingdom  there 
shall  be  no  end.'  The  final  assault,  permitted  at  the  end  of  the  thousand 
years,  serves  but  to  confirm  his  reign  for  ever;  and  so  (!)  the  state  of 
things  then  existing,  and  to  exist  for  ever,  en  the  earth,  "  s/iall  be  a  state 
without  sin." — (Pp.  96,  97.)  In  this  way  of  arriving  at  conclusions,  the 
reader  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  Or.  M'Neile  finds  "no  more 
sorrow"  "no  more  ignorance,"  "no  more  curse"  from  the  time  that 
Christ  comes— that  is,  while  the  earth  is  peopled  by  "  the  restored  Jews," 
and  "  the  millions  of  the  heathen  who  have  never  rejected  the  gospel," 
and  of  whom  it  is  written  that  "  they  .'il»all  come  *o  Judah's  light, 
&c."— (Pp.  97-104.  Of  course,  these  "restored  Jews  and  converted 
heathens"  must  start  at  once  not  only  into  a  converted  state,  but  into  a 
siyiless,  sorrowless,  'perfectly  illuminated  and  cmrssiess  sts'e,  in  order  to 
realize  the  millennial  picture  which  the  lecturer  draws  What  can  on« 
make  of  this  7 

o 


158  "  THE    LAST    ENEMY 

passage  is  a  'present  reign — a  reign  commencing  on  tie 
Redeemer's  session  at  his  Father's  right  hand.  The  other 
class,  on  ground  equally  unassailable,  hold  that,  as  the 
enemies  mentioned  will  not  be  destroyed  till  the  end  of  the 
millennium,  the  assurance  that  "  He  must  reign"  till  that 
be  done,  carries  the  reign  down  till  after  the  millennium. 
The  one  class  give  us  the  beginning  of  the  reign,  and  the 
other  class  the  end  of  it,  quite  correctly.  And  thus,  in  op- 
position to  both,  and  by  means  of  both,  we  get  our  proposition 
established — that  "  the  kingdom,"  and  the  Redeemer's 
"  reign"  in  it,  as  they  commenced  on  his  ascension  to  power, 
so  they  will  continue  till  the  final  judgment,  in  the  sense  of 
commencement  and  continuance  already  explained. 

How  precious  is  the  view  given  of  "  death"  in  this  pas- 
sage, as  the  Saviour's  "  last  enemy" — the  last  enemy  of  that 
mediatorial  croicn  which  he  now  wears,  as  the  Redeemer  of 
his  people  from  the  whole  ruins  of  the  fall !  On  his  own 
throne  sitting,  "  a  Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain" — taken  up 
to  it  fresh  from  the  Cross,  and  placed  upon  it  in  high 
testimony  of  Jehovah's  complacency  in  his  work — in  this 
character,  and  vested  with  this  authority  and  power,  will 
he  destroy  that  last  enemy  of  his  gracious  sway — death. 
Virtually^  indeed,  it  has  been  done  already — on  the  field  of 
Zrt-ic,  though  not  oi  fact.  '-Through  death  he  destroyed 
him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is  the  devil." — 
(Heb.  ii.  14.)  "  He  spoiled  principalities  and  powers,  and 
made  a  show  of  them  openl}'^,  triumphing  over  them  in  his 
cross" — (Col.  ii.  15.)  There  he  ''abolished,"  or  "de- 
stroyed DEATH." — (2  Tim  i.  10.)*  A  legal  basis  had  to 
be  obtained  for  the  actual  destruction  of  so  righteous  a 
penalty  as  death,  "  the  wages  of  sin."  In  the  righteous- 
ne3s  of  that  penalty,  Satan  was  strong.      On  that  field,  but 

*  It  is  the  same  word  (uarapyfu)  in  both  places. 


159 

for  Christ's  death,  he  was  inviucible.  In  this  sense  "  the 
accuser  of  the  brethren"  had  "  the  power  of  death" — power 
to  insist  on  its  infliction,  on  the  same  eternal  principles  of 
the  divine  government  by  which  himself  was  ruined  as  a 
sinner — power  to  see  it  invested,  in  its  approaches  to  men, 
«vitb  unmixed  terrors,  with  '•'  fearful  lookings  for  of  judg- 
ment and  fiery  indignation,  to  devour  the  adversaries" — 
power  to  have  a  hand  in  mixing  "  the  cup  of  trembling"  to 
the  dying  sinner.  Yes !  "  the  sting  of  death  is  sin,  and 
the  strength  is  the  Jaw ;"  nor  could  the  Son  of  God  himself 
override  these  awful  securities  for  the  execution  of  ven- 
geance. But  that  vengeance  he  could  draw  off,  by  placing 
himself  under  it  as  Jehovah's  substitutionary  Victim  ;  and 
this  he  did — "  through  death"  not  actually  ''  abolisl^ng" 
death,  but  obtaining  a  legal  title  to  abolish  it  from  the 
Throne.  He  met  the  enemy  on  his  own  chosen  field,  that 
proud  arena  •'  where  was  the  hiding  of  his  power  ;"  and 
having  "  taken  from  him  all  his  armour  wherein  he  trust- 
ed," he  has  gone  up  to  "  divide  his  spoils."  (Luke  xi.  121, 
22;  compare  Isa.  liii.  12.)  And  the  distribution  is  going 
gloriously  on.  The  sweet  sense  of  pardon  and  reconcilia- 
tioQ — the  envy  of  Satan — is  one  of  the  spoils  he  divides. 
Superiority  to  the  "  sin  that  dwelleth  in  us,"  is  another  of 
the  spoils  left  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  which,  falling  into 
the  Redeemer's  hands,  he  divides  to  his  people.  But  the 
death  of  death  is  reserved  for  the  last.  Already  he  is  un- 
stinged ;  so  that,  though  he  tears  asunder  soul  and  body, 
leaving  what  Christ  redeemed  a  lifeless  carcase,  in  this  he 
is  no  longer  Satan's  but  Christ's  servant,  who  "  to  this  end, 
both  died  and  rose  and  revived,  that  he  might  be  Lord 
both  of  the  dead  and  living"  (Rom.  xiv.  9).  and  who,  as 
such,  "  hath  the  keys  of  death  and  of  hades  " — (Rev.  i.  18.) 
Still  the  enemy  lives.  While  his  victims  lie  rotting  in 
the  grave,  he  is  not  "  abolished,"  "  destroyed,"  "put  under 


160  "DELIVERING    UP    THE    KINGDOM      • 

his  feet."  But  it  must,  and  it  shall,  come  to  that.  The 
Redeemer  •'  expects"  that  what  he  accomplished  sacrifi- 
dally  on  the  field  of  lau\  shall  be  made  good  royally  in  the 
region  of  fact.  The  prey  shall  be  taken  from  the  terrible, 
and  the  lawful  captive  delivered  ;  and  thus,  in  the  most 
absolute  and  comprehensive  sense,  should  He  "  see  of  th^ 
travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied." 

It  now  only  remains,  before  dismissing  this  grand  pas- 
sage, that  I  advert  to  the  "  delivering  up  of  the  kingdom." 
Not  that  it  has  any  thing  to  do  with  our  subject — it  relates 
to  a  stage  of  the  kingdom  beyond  the  limits  of  our  ques- 
tion. But  perhaps  it  would  be  unsatisfactory  to  take  leave 
of  it,  without  some  reference  to  this  very  remarkable  state- 
ment with  which  it  closes. 

Two  ideas,  then,  seem  to  be  included  in  this  '•  deliver- 
ing up"  of  the  kingdom. 

1.  It  is  the  Mediator  '•^giving  an  account  of  his  Steward- 
ship y 

It  is  fit  that  this  should  be  done.  As  Infinite  Rectitude 
will  have  his  intromissions  judicially  investigated  and 
pronounced  upon,  so  his  own  fidelity  desires  and  demands 
it,  that  his  work  may,  in  this  sense,  be  taken  off  his  hands. 
He  will  have  it  publicly  owned,  and  Himself  as  the  Doer 
of  it.  For  this  purpose,  he  advances  to  the  Throne.  .  His 
dead  people  summoned  from  their  graves,  and  his  living 
ones  changed  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  are  all  around 
him — '•  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or 
any  such  thing  ;"  and  as  their  crowns  are  east  before  him, 
and  his  ear  is  filled  with  their  grateful  hallelujahs — 
"  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all  them  that 
believe" — he  turns  to  •'  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  Throne," 
as  Judge  of  his  work,  saying.  '•  Behold  I,  and  the  children 
whom  thou  hast  given  me  :  The  glory  which  thou  gavest 


WHAT    IT    IS.  16! 

me  I  have  given  them  ;  and  they  are  one,  even  as  we  are 
one."— (Heb.  ii.  13  :  John  xvil  22.)  The  Trust  commit- 
ted to  him  was  awful;  the  wheels  of  it  '•  were  so  high  that 
they  were  dreadful"  (Ezek.  i.  18) ;  the  issues  suspended 
upon  the  successful  execution  of  it  were  infinite  ;  the  glory 
of  the  Godhead  was  bound  up  with  it :  and  Jesus,  know- 
ing all  this,  and  exulting  in  the  consoiousness  that  his  work 
will  abide  the  lustre  of  Divine  Inspection,  will  have  judg- 
ment given  upon  it,  that  his  ear  may  be  greeted  from  the 
Throne  with  that  sound — sweeter  to  him  than  celestial 
music — "  Well  done,  Good  and  Faithful  Servant !"     But, 

2.   This  "  delivering  up"  of  the  kingdom  seems  to  imply 
the  end  of  the  kingdom  in  its  present  form. 

"  Then  cometh  the  end^'' — the  end,  certainly,  of  some- 
thing; and  the  words  which  immediately  follow,  "when 
he  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kinglom^'^  seem  naturally  to 
suggest  this  as  the  thing  ended.  That  a  termination  of 
some  kind  is  intended,  we  gather,  not  from  the  word  ren- 
dered "  deliver  up" — a  word  which  does  not  necessarily 
imply,  either  in  classical  or  Scripture  usage,  2l  giving  away 
of  the  thing  spoken  of,  as  critics  have  shown  ;  but  we 
gather  it  from  what  is  stated  at  the  end  of  the  whole 
passage,  as  the  object  in  view.  "  The  kingdom,"  says  the 
apostle,  "  shall  be  delivered  up — that  God  may  be  all  in 
all."  Now,  explain  this  as  we  may,  it  seems  to  us  to 
imply  something  more  than  the  mere  presentation  of  the 
kingdom  to  the  Father,  for  the  purposes  of  judicial  investi- 
gation. Even  those  who  seem  disposed  to  rest  iu  this  as 
the  whole  sense  of  the  apostle,  allow  nevertheless,  that,  in 
point  of  fact,  there  will  be  a  change  of  form,  and  a  termi- 
nation of  not  a  few  things  now  going  on  in,  and  now  cha- 
racterising the  kingdom.  And  if  so,  why  should  we  be  so 
jealous  of  admitting  this  to  be  what  the  apostle  means  to 
express  ^ 


162  **  DELIVERING    UP    THE    KINGDOM*' 

When  Jesus  said,  as  he  was  on  the  wing  for  heaven^ 
''  Go,  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing  them,  and 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you" — he  gave  out  a  commission  which  will 
undoubtedly  be  at  an  end  when  the  time  arrives  of  which 
our  apostle  speaks.  His  concluding  words  imply  as  much; 
''  And  lo !  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world."  Now,  this  commission  is  prefaced  with  the  de- 
lightful announcement,  "  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in 
heaven  and  in  earth ;  Go  ye,  therefore^" — implying  that  both 
the  authority  to  issue  that  commission,  and  the  power  to 
sustain  in  the  execution  of  it,  were  given  to  the  Mediator 
expressly  for  those  saving  purposes.  When,  therefore,  the 
work  is  done,  the  whole  Commission  is  at  an  end — not 
merely  the  matters  to  be  performed,  but  the  whole  Media- 
torial Trust,  and  the  whole  mediatorial  Furniture,  of  autho- 
rity and  power,  of  gifts  and  graces,  committed  to  him  for 
the  ends  of  that  Trust. 

But  does  it  follow  from  this,  that  the  Mediator,  as  such, 
will  sink  and  disappear  ?  By  no  means.  The  termination 
of  which  we  have  spoken  leaves  all  mediatorial  relationships 
untouched  ;  and  in  the  two  following  respects  they  will  un- 
doubtedly be  eternal : 

(I.)  In  his  mediatorial  merit  Christ  must  for  ever  be 
recognized  by  the  redeemed,  and  be  in  that  character  the 
Object  of  their  unceasing  contemplation  and  praise.  "  Wor- 
thy is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  to  receive  power,  and 
riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory, 
and  blessing" —  that  dearest  utterance  of  every  heart 
that  has  ever  been  sprinkled  with  his  blood — must  get 
out.  Nor  will  it  go  forth  merely  in  one  sublime  shout, 
bursting  simultaneously  from  the  lips  of  all,  as  they 
"  enter  in  through  the  gates  into  the  city" — to  die  away, 
or  be  lost  in  some  other  and  unknown  feelings,  kindled  by 


WHAT    IT    IS    NOT.  163 

the  sight  of  an  altered  Lord.  No.  Nothing  will  ever  con- 
tent the  ransomed  of  the  Lord,  but  still  to  discern  "  in  the 
midst  of  the  throne  a  Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain" — ever 
fresh,  so  to  speak,  from  the  Altar.  They  will  love  to  feel 
the  eternal  freshness  of  his  merit,  and  its  righteous  power  to 
keep  them  where  they  are.  As  he  unveils  himself  to  them 
in  this  overpowering  character,  and  they  gaze  upon  him  in 
the  vivid,  adoring  perception  of  that  in  him  which  brought 
them  from  hell  to  heaven,  those  melodious  notes  will  steal 
upon  his  ear,  and  fill  it  gratefully  through  all  duration, 
"  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in 
his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  to  God 
and  his  Father,  to  him  be  glory  and  dominion,  for  ever  and 
ever.     Amen." 

(2.)  His  Mediatorial  Person  will  be  the  eternal  Seat  of 
Divine  manifestation ;  the  Medium  of  communication  be- 
tween the  Unseen  One  and  all  heaven  ;  and  the  very  Prop 
of  the  eternal  system.  It  is  on  this  point  that  the  heart 
is  ready  to  tremble,  as  it  hears  of  his  "  delivering  up  the 
kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father — that  God  may  be  all  in 
all," — as  if  it  were  meant  to  intimate  that,  somehow  or 
other,  the  mediatorial  character  of  its  Lord  would  merge 
and  evanish — a  thought  abhorrent  to  saved  and  grateful 
souls.  But  on  this  point  other  Scriptures  gloriously  re-as- 
sure us.     The  heavenly  state  is  in  one  place  called  "  the 

EVERLASTING    KINGDOM    OF    OUR    LoilD    AND    SaVIOUR    JeSUS 

Christ"— (2  Pet.  i.  11.)  In  another,  it  is  called  "  The 
kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God." — (Eph.  v.  5.)  And 
what  this  last  passage  expresses  nakedly,  is  in  the  Apo- 
calypse (as  usual)  symbolically  represented :  "  And  he 
showed  me  a  pure  river  of  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal, 
proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb.  .  .  . 
And  there  shall  be  no  more  curse  ;  but  the  throne  of  God 
and  of  the   Lamb   shall   be   in   it" — the  new  Jerusalem. 


164  "  DELIVERING    UP    THE    KINGDOM" 

(Rev.  xxii.  1,  3  )  Here,  God  and  the  Lamb  are  named 
with  emphatic  distinctness ;  and  the  pure  river  of  the 
water  of  life  is  seen  flowing  from  the  throne  of  both. — from 
that  of  Grod.  as  the  Unseen,  Absolute,  Eternal  Fountain  of 
life  and  of  love;  from  that  of  the  Lamb,  as  the  visible 
Channel,  throughout  eternity,  of  all  gracious  and  beatific 
communications  from  God  to  the  redeemed. 

"  He  that  hath  seen  Him  will  have  seen  the  Father." 
In  his  glorious  Person,  the  triune  Jehovah  will  stand  con- 
fessed and  manifested  to  all  heaven  and  through  all  dura- 
tion. Nor  will  it  be  mediatorial  manifestation  only. 
There  will  be  incessant  mediatorial  iHtercourse  and  com- 
munication between  God  and  his  people.  The  river  of  life, 
as  we  learn  from  what  is  here  said,  shall  flow,  through 
him,  from  its  Fountain  to  the  souls  that  shall  never  have 
enough  of  it:  and  from  them  it  shall  be,  through  the  same 
dear  channel,  sent  back  again,  in  the  outgoings  of  their 
full  hearts  and  in  the  services  of  their  perfected  natures, 
without  end.  Never  a  benignant  look,  never  a  gracious 
communication,  from  the  triune  Jehovah  will  reach  the 
citizens  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  but  it  will  pass  through,  or 
rather  proceed  from,  his  manifested  Person  :  Never  a 
grateful  feeling,  nor  a  willing  service,  shall  go  from  them 
to  the  Godhead,  but  it  shall  light  upon,  and  be  absorbed 
by.  Him  "  in  whom  shall  be  seen  dwelling  all  the  fulness 
of  the  Godhead  bodily."  Thus  the  mediatorial  relation- 
ships will  remain, — not  in  the  passive  state  of  mere  exist- 
ence, so  to  speak,  but  gloriously  active  and  effectual. 
They  will  be  the  life  of  all  heaven.  The  preservation  and 
continuance  of  the  heavenly  state  will  be  as  dependent  upon 
the  continued  application  of  his  mediatorial  merit,  and  the 
continued  exercise  of  his  mediatorial  power,  as  was  the 
attai7iment  of  heaven  before.  As  in  the  kingdom  of 
Nature,  "  In  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth, 


'VHAT    IT    IS    NOT.  165 

and  rested  the  seventh  day,"  and  yet  ''  my  Father  worketh 
hitherto  (said  Christ),  and  1  work ;"  as  every  moment  He 
"  upholdeth  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power" — the 
same  creative  power  which  called  them  into  being  at  first ; 
— so  in  the  kingdom  of  Grace,  the  whole  saving  grace  and 
redeeming  power  of  the  Mediator  will  go  out  incessantly, 
in  the  heavenly  state,  for  the  preservation  and  continuance 
of  what  hath  been  attained — for  the  eternal  sustentation 
of  the  Church,  in  its  being  and  bliss. 

Thus,  in  the  strictest  sense,  will  it  be  the  "  kingdom  of 
Christ  and  of  God" — "  His  appearing  and  his  kingdom" — 
"  The  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ" — "  He  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever." 
In  his  glorious  Person  not  only  shall  God  be  manifested, 
but  restored  humanity  shall  stand  represented  and  headed 
up,  as  "  the  First  begotten  from  the  dead,  the  First-born 
among  many  brethren."  "  the  second  Man."  In  Him  also 
shall  "elect  angels"  find  the  principle  of  their  stability, 
and  the  Head  of  a  system  of  new  creation,  of  which  thej 
are  a  part ;  in  whom  are  ''  gathered  together  all  things  in 
one,  both  which  are  in  heaven,  and  which  are  on  earth, 
even  in  Him" — '•  by  whom  all  things  are  reconciled, 
whether  they  be  things  in  earth  or  things  in  heaven  " 
(Eph.  i.  10  ;  Col.  i.  20.)  At  the  head  of  this  magnificent 
kingdom  of  new  creation  Jesus  shall  sit,  the  Life  of  all  its 
activities  and  of  all  its  felicities,  and  the  very  Prop  of  its 
being — feasting  himself  with  the  worthy  and  enduring 
spectacle.  Long  he  "  expected  :"  Now,  he  expects  no 
longer,  and  expects  nothing  more  ;  for  he  has  gotten  all. 
"  He  SEES  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  is  satisfied."  He 
rests  and  is  refreshed.  The  Trust-character  of  mediation 
is  at  an  end ;  but  mediation  itself  is  not  at  an  end.  The 
Stewardship  has  ceased,  with  all  its  mutual  engagements, 
and  interchanged  fidelities,  and  surrenders  and  acceptances 


166  DELIVERING    UP    THE    KINGDOM. 

between  the  contracting  parties.  "  The  Strength  of  Israel 
has  not  lied  unto  Him  ;"  nor  has  He  proved  to  Him  that 
appointed  him  "  altogether  as  a  liar,  and  as  waters  that 
fail."     So  the  Covenant  stands   fast  for  ever,  and  '•  His 

THRONE  AS  THE  DAYS  OF  HEAVEN  !" (Psal.  Ixxxix.  28-37.)* 

*  The  farther  prosecution  of  this  important  branch  of  our  argument 
I  reserve  to  the  second  part  of  this  volume ;  that  the  stream  of  evidence 
under  the  successive  heads,  may  flow  uninterrupted. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    ENTIRE     CHURCH     "  MADE     ALIVe" EITHER     BY    RESUR- 
RECTION   OR    TRANSFORMATION AT    CHRIST's    COMING. 

There  is  no  part  of  the  pre-millennial  scheme,  as  now 
advocated,  where  it  comes  so  entirely  to  a  stand,  as  on  the 
subject  of  the  Resurrection.  When  Christ  appears,  we 
are  told — at  the  beginning  oi  the  millennium — he  will  raise 
all  the  saints  that  shall  have  died  before  that  time,  and 
ehange  all  that  shall  then  be  alive.  But  what  is  to  become 
of  the  myriads  of  saints  that  are  to  people  the  earth  during 
the  millennium  ? 

The  answer  to  this  question  will  startle  the  reader,  if  he 
happens  not  to  be  well  read  in  the  changes  which  this  un- 
steady scheme  has  from  time  to  time  undergone,  and  is 
unacquainted  with  its  latest  modifications.  The  fact  is, 
This  whole  subject  is  a  blank  in  the  system.  It  has  posi- 
tively got  no  Scripture  on  the  subject.  It  applies  all  that 
Scripture  says  about  the  resurrection  of  saints  at  all,  to 
those  living  before  the  millennium.  Of  course,  then,  they 
fii.d  it  silent  about  either  the  raising  or  the  changing  of 
any  other  saints — without  a  word  about  the  vast  numbers 
whom  they  have  to  dispose  of  after  the  millennium.  What 
do  they  do  with  them,  then  ?  For  the  most  part,  the  sub- 
ject is  avoided.  Those,  however,  who  venture  to  grapple 
with  it,  are  hurried  into  such  revolting  speculations  as, 
I  believe,  will  open  many  an  eye  to  the  true  nature  of  the 
whole  scheme 


168  EVERLASTING    CONTINUANCE    OF 

I  shall  not  take  my  statement  of  these  tpeculations  from 
those  who  are  reckoned  extreme  men,  nor  from  books 
which  may  be  supposed  to  be  out  of  date.  The  following 
is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Bickersteth.  The  startling  nature 
of  it,  and  its  important  bearings,  will  justify  our  giving  it 
pretty  nearly  in  full. 

"  If  (says  he)  the  resurrection  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked, 
and  the  general  juflgment  of  all  men,  took  place  at  one  time,  and 
in  the  same  day,  none  would,  none  could  be  left,  as  the  heads  and 
parents  of  a  redeemed  people  on  earth  [after  the  general  judgment.] 
But  the  Holy  Scriptures  reveal  to  us  a  progress  in  judgment,  and 
that  the  resurrection  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  are  clearly 
distinct  in  time.  There  is  the  first  resurrection  of  the  saints  at  the 
commencement  of  the  millennium,  and  after  the  thousand  years 

the  rest  of  the  dead  [the  wicked^  live,  and  are  judged 

At  the  close  of  the  millennium,  '  there  is  a  last  open  apostasy  of 
the  wicked,'  who  during  the  thousand  years  had  '  yielded  only  a 
feigned  obedience.'  This  'finally  separates  all  the  believers,  and 
removes  them  from  the  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness. 
The  apostates  are  first  slain  by  fire,  and  afterwards  raised  with 
the  rest  of  the  wicked  dead  for  judgment.     But  no  cuange  is  then 

MENTIONED    AS     PASSING    ON    THE    JEWISH    NATION,    OR    ON   THE    LIVING 

RIGHTEOUS,  who  contiuue  faithful  to  God,  as  in  the  translation 
OF  THE  saints  BEFORE  THE  MILLENNIUM.*  Thc  objcct  of  thc  re- 
bellion, to  overthrow  the  camp  of  the  saints  and  the  beloved  city, 
fails  of  its  design.  God  protects  them.  Tlie  living  righteous,  then, 
after  the  millennium,  may  yet  continue  a  seed  to  serve  god,  and 

IN  SUCCESSIVE  GENERATIONS  BE  TRAINED  UP  FOR  HEAVENLY  GLO' 
RY.'  " 

In  this  statement,  the  least  surprising  thing  which  the 
reader  will  mark  is,  that  there  is  to  be  no  simultaneous 
change  of   those    myriads    of  believers   wlio  have    lived 


*  I  thought  the  author  had,  in  the  previous  sentence,  "  anally  removed 
«11  the  believers  from  the  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness."  How 
he  keeps  them  on  earth  still,  unchanged  and  untranslated,  I  am  at  a  loes 
♦•»  understand. 


THE    FLESHLY    STATE MR.  BICKERSTETH.  I6ft 

dvriv^  the  millennium,  *'  as  in  the  translation  of  the 
saints  btfare  the  millennium."  That,  be  it  observed,  is 
given  up.  What,  then,  becomes  of  them  ?  One  by  one, 
throughout  "  successive  generations."  they  get  glorified 
— we  are  not  told  how,  or  on  what  principle — but  the 
race  of  them  never  dies  out :  they  live  on,  and  propagate 
their  kind — to  all  eternity  ;  they  "  continue  a  seed  to  serve 
God !" 

But  possibly  this  is  but  a  hasty  conjecture  ;  for,  says  the 
author,  "  they  may  continue."  In  the  next  sentence  but 
one,  however,  the  conjectural  is  changed  into  the  positive ; 
and  page  after  page  is  spent  in  attempts  to  prove  the 
monstrous  position  of  an  eternal  'perpetuity  of  the  gene- 
rations and  families  of  men  in  flesh  and  blood  upon  the 
earth. 

"  Its  truth  (says  he)  is  distinctly  revealed  in  many  testimonies 
of  Scripture,  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  The  covenant 
with  Noah  was  'an  everlasting  covenant  between  God  and  every 
living  creature  of  all  Jlesh  for  perpetual  generations,''  The  covenant 
of  Abraham  is  called  by  the  Psalmist  '  the  word  which  he  com- 
manded to  a  Uumsand  generations.'  So  Moses  describes  the  Lord 
as  '  keeping  covenant  and  mercy  for  a  thousand  generations.'  This 
period  of  a  thousand  generations,  thus  repeatedly  mentioned,  would 

REACH    FAR    BEYOND    THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    MILLENNIUM.        The    promise 

made  in  Isaiah,  concerning  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  his  reign- 
ing on  the  throne  of  David,  are  in  the  strongest  expressions  of 
NEVER-ENDING  CONTINUANCE.  The  samc  promisc  of  perpetuity  ig 
often  given  to  the  people  of  Israel :  '  The  people  shall  be  all 
righteous,  they  shall  i?iherit  the  land  for  ever.' — (Isa.  Ix.  21.)  Cor- 
responding with  this  is  that  very  full  and  clear  promise,  '  They 
shall  dwell  in  the  land,  they  and  their  children  and  their  children's 
children  for  ever,  and  my  servant  David  shall  be  their  prince /<7r  ever.^ 
The  plain  and  obvious  meaning  of  such  passages  would  lead  us  to 
the  conclusion  of  a  continuance,  both  of  Israel  and  Gentile  nations 
in  a  state  of  righteousness  on  our  earth."  After  attempting  to 
Bhow  "  the  consistency  of  this  with  the  last  fire  described  in  St. 
Peter,  and  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  afterwards  to  come 


170  EVERLASTING    CONTINUANCE    OF 

forth,"  he  says,  "  Thus  remarkable  are  the  proofs  in  the  OM  Testa- 
ment of  the  PERPETUAL  continuance  of  the  Jewish  nation  on  ouf 
earth."* 

Mr.  Bickersteth's  New  Testament  proofs  are  still  more 
singular. 

"  The  apostle  (says  he)  closes  his  prayer  for  the  Ephesians  by 
leading  us  to  the  same  wonderful  fact,  of  a  perpetual  continuance  oj 
the  Church  upon  earth :  '  Unto  God  be  glory  in  the  Church  by  Christ 
Jesus,  world  without  end ;'  or,  as  it  might  be  rendered,  '  through- 
out all  the  generations  of  the  ag*»  of  ages.'  The  apostle  J«mes, 
speaking  of  believers,  says,  '  Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us  with  the 
word  of  truth,  that  we  should  be  a  kind  of  first-fruits  of  his  crea- 
tures.' Thus  the  Christian  Church  is  described  as  only  the  first-fruits 
of  a  glorious  harvest  yet  to  be  reaped  on  our  earth. ^^ 

That  is,  after  "  the  end  of  all  things" — as  we  innocently 
say — for  it  seems  there  is  to  be  no  end  of  any  thing 

•'  So  (he  goes  on),  in  the  description  in  the  Hebrews  of  the  future 
glory,  and  of  the  heavenly  society  partaking  of  it,  there  is  not  only 
the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born  which  are  written 
in  heaven,  but  '  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,'  which  seems 
to  refer  to  those  gathered,  after  the  number  of  the  Church  of  the  first- 
born is  completed." 

But  enough  of  these  singular  specimens  of  exegesis. f 
Soon  after  the  publication  of  the  volume  from  which 
these  paragraphs  are  transcribed,  Mr.  Birks'  able  work  on 
"  The  Four  Prophetic  Empires  and  the  Kingdom  of  the 
Messiah"  appeared.  There  the  same  views  are  stated,  the 
same  passages,  with  a  little  enlargement,  adduced,  the  same 

*  The  reader  will  observe  how  studiously  the  estimable  author  avoids 
saying,  "  eternal  continuance."  Is  it  that  an  everlasting  ■propagation  of 
human  families  upon  earth  is  a  sentiment  scarcely  palatable  enough  to  be 
nakedly  stated '? 

t  "  Second  Coming,"  &c.  (Lent  Lectures  for  1813.)  Mr.  Bickersteth's 
Lecture  is  entitled,  "  The  Kingdom  of  Christ  the  Lord,  in  its  successive 
stages  and  heavenly  glories." 


THE    FLESHLY    STATE.  171 

style  of  reasoning  and  language  employed.     A  few  sen- 
tences, however,  I  will  give  from  this  work. 

"  Does  the  word  of  God  (asks  Mr.  Birks)  distinctly  reveal  to  ua 
a  time  when  the  number  of  mankind  shall  be  caniplete,  and  a  close 
put  for  ever  to  the  cmi7-se  of  human  generations  ?  Or,  does  it  unfold 
the  prospect  of  successive  generations  of  the  redeemed  throwghmU  the 
course  of  the  ages  to  come?  It  has  appeared  already,  that  the  latest 
prophecy  of  Scripture  encourages,  rather  than  forbids,  the  latter 
view No  one  could  infer  from  these  parts  of  the  in- 
spired volume  [the  Old  Testament],  that  there  was  any  final  bound 
assigned  to  the  course  of  human  generations.  The  direct  state- 
ments of  their  perpetual  continuance  are  so  numerous,  and  ex- 
pressed in  such  varied  forms,  that  nothing  less  than  the  clearest 
evidence  in  other  parts  of  revelation  can  warrant  us  in  restricting 
them  to  a  narrower  sense.  .  .  .  The  last  fire  is,  in  the  book  of 
Revelation,  seen  to  fall  on  the  rebels  who  compass  the  beloved  city. 
But  the  camp  of  the  saints  itself  is  preserved,  the  fire  harms  it  not. 
The  dead,  then,  and  the  dead  only,  so  far  as  that  prophecy  reveals, 
are  summoned  in  judgment,  but  the  faithful  who  are  then  living 
are  passed  by  in  silence ;  and  the  natural  conclusion  seems  to  be, 
that  from  them  the  new  earth  is  peopled  with  holy  and  righteous 
generations."  * 

In  the  newly  published  Lent  Lectures  (for  1849),  the 
same  views  are  repeated,  in  a  modest  and  sweet  spirit,  by 
Mr.  BiiocK.f  But  as  he  refers  his  readers  to  Mr.  Birks 
and  Mr.  Bickersteth  for  a  fuller  treatment  of  the  subject, 
I  pass  from  him  to  give  one  more  extract  from  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic. 

I  refer  to  Mr.  Lord's  "Exposition  of  the  Apocalypse. "J 

*  The  Four  Prophetic  Empires,  and  the  Kingdom  of  the  Messiah. 
By  the  Rev.  T.  R.  Birks,  pp.  310,  311,  319,  320,  325.  Second  Edition, 
1845. 

t  The  Priest  upon  his  Throne,  Lect.  x. 

X  New  York,  1847.  A  work  of  considerable  acuteness  and  reading, 
though  giving  a  prominence  to  the  Voluntary  Question,  as  an  element 
of  interpretation,  which  most  of  my  readers  would  deem  extravagant, 
and  too  confident  in  its  t<rne  throughout. 


172  REMARKS 

"  The  annunciation  («!ays  the  author)  that  he  who  sent  hifl 
angel  to  testify  these  things  in  the  churches  is  Jesus,  .  ,  .  that 
the  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come,  and  that  whoever  hears  it 
is  to  say,  Come,  is  marked  by  a  beauty  and  grandeur  of  mean- 
ing scarcely  surpassed  in  any  other  passage  of  the  book.  As 
the  saints,  who  are  the  bride,  do  not  in  their  intermediate  state 
address  men,  the  invitation  they  utter  is  to  be  referred  to  their 
leign  with  Christ  on  earth,  when  they  are  to  exercise  the  office 
of  kings  and  priests.  The  passage  indicates  an  agency,  there- 
fore, they  are  to  exert  througlwut  the  interminable  ages  of  redemption. 
The  Root  and  the  Offspring  of  David,  the  bright  and  morning 
Star,  is  the  incarnate  Word,  who  is  to  reign  and  carry  on  the 

WORK  OF  SALVATION  FOR  EVER  AND  EVER.  ThE  SpIRIT  IS  TO  CON- 
TINUE   HIS     RENEWING    AND    SANCTIFYING    INFLUENCE,    and    Say    tO    the 

sons  and  daughters  of  the  race^  as  they  are  summoned  from  age  to  age 
into  existence,  Come.  The  raised  and  transfigured  saints  are  to  re- 
peat   the    call   THROUGH    THE    FLIGHT    OF    EVERLASTING    YEARS,*   and 

the  unglorifled  also ;  and  every  breast  be  filled  and  transported 
with  a  sense  of  the  infinitude  and  freeness  of  the  Saviour's  grace." — 
(P.  535.) 

I  thought  that  my  duty  to  the  truth,  and  fidelity  to  the 
system  which  I  am  examining,  demanded  that  these  ex- 
tracts should  be  given  to  my  readers.  And  now,  what 
shall  I  say  of  such  views  ? 

(1.)  They  are  in  the  last  degree  repulsive.  Who  can 
hear  of  "  successive  generations"  of  men  after  the  last 
judgment, — of  '•  sons  and  daughters  of  our  race  summoned 
into  existence  through  the  flight  of  everlasting  years," — of 
a  "perpetual  continuance  of  the  Church  upon  earth,"  for 
the  purpose  of  being  "  trained  for  heavenly  glory"  without 
any  end, — of  an  everlasting  birth  of  sinful  men,  to  be  saved 
by  grace — implying,  of  course,  the  eternal  continuance 

OP     SIN,    AND      its      inseparable     ACCOMPANIMENTS,    OU    that 

♦  Compare  this  with  Mr.  Bickersteth's  "  visible  economy  of  oral  reve- 
lation fi-om  those  who  reign  upon  the  earth  " — to  those  who  are  reigned 
ffcer;  p.  113,  supra. 


ON    THIS    VIEW.  173 

"  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness :" — who  can 
hear  of  such  things  without  astonishment,  and — is  it  too 
much  to  add — without  loathing  ?  I  know  it  may  be  said, 
that  this  everlasting  continuance  of  sin  and  misery  on  the 
new  earth  is  repudiated  by  the  writers  from  whom  I  quote ; 
inasmuch  as  they  repeatedly  tell  us  that  "  the  people  that 
sojourn  on  the  earth  will  be  all  righteous'^  in  the  most 
absolute  sense.  Mr.  Lord^  for  example,  says  this,  and  so 
do  others.  But  that  is  their  strange  inconsistency.  They 
talk  of  "  the  incarnate  Word  carrying  on  the  work  of 
salvation  for  ever  and  ever,"  and  in  the  next  breath  speak 
of  men  on  the  earth  as  having  no  sin  to  be  saved  from — of 
"  the  Spirit  continuing  his  renewing  and  sanctifying  influ- 
ence" on  the  new  earth,  and  anon,  as  if  no  renovation  and 
sanctification  were  needed  at  all — of  "  the  perpetual  con- 
tinuance of  the  Church  upon  earth  to  be  trained  for  hea- 
venly glory,"  and  then,  as  if  men  were  beyond  the  need 
of  any  such  discipline.  What  can  be  made  of  confusion 
like  this  ? 

(2.)  The  arguments  in  proof  of  these  views  are  as  far- 
fetched as  the  views  themselves.  What  canon  of  criticism 
is  more  self-evident  and  more  universally  recognized  than 
this,  that  terms  and  phrases,  expressive  of  'perpetuity.,  are 
to  be  stretched  no  further  tiian  the  known  duration  of  the 
thing  spoken  of? — as  when  the  Jews  were  commanded  to 
keep  such  and  such  of  their  institutions  "  throughout  their 
generations  by  an  ordinance  for  ever,"  that  is,  of  course, 
not  through  all  eternity,  but  throughout  the  whole  duration 
of  their  peculiar  polity,  and  no  longer.  On  this  familiar 
principle,  all  Mr.  Bickersteth's  and  Mr.  Birks'  passages 
about  '•  perpetual  generations,"  '•  thousand  generations," 
"  inheriting  the  land  for  ever,"  and  such  like,  admit  of  the 
easiest  possible  explanation.  Nor  does  the  greater  strength 
of  the  language  in  one  place  than  in  another,  for  which 
p3 


174  REMARKS 

there  wii^l  always  be  found  some  reason,  alter  the  /rincipU 
upon  which  all  such  passages  are  to  be  explained.  As  for 
their  interpretation  of  the  glory  which  Paul  ascribes  to 
God  '•  in  the  Church  throughout  all  ages,"  as  if  it  taught 
the  eternal  continuance  of  a  Church-state  upon  earth  after 
the  last  judgment,  it  is  only  equalled  in  originality  and  in 
value  by  their  two  next  interpretations — of  "  the  first- 
fruits  of  his  creatures'^  in  James,  and  " /Ae  spirits  of  jusl 
men  made 'perfecf^  in  the  Hebrews  (tbd  last,  however,  omit- 
ted by  Mr.  Birks). 

But  the  intelligent  reader  will  scarcely,  I  think,  be  con- 
tented with  repudiating  such  wretched  interpretations. 
He  will  go  on  to  consider  what  could  ever  suggest  them  to 
such  excellent  ministers  of  Christ.  It  must  have  some- 
thing to  recommend  it  to  such  men  ;  and  I  apprehend  that 
something  to  be  the  gap  otherwise  left  in  the  pre-millennial 
system.  That  system  provides  for  the  saints  whom  it  has 
to  dispose  of  before  the  millennium.  It  provides  also  for 
the  resurrection  of  the  wicked  at  the  close  of  the  millen- 
nium, in  such  a  way.  at  least,  as  will  bear  to  be  looked  at. 
But  since  "  no  change  upon  the  living  righteous,'"  after  the 
millennium,  is  expected — no  simultaneous  transformation 
of  the  millions  of  saints  that  will  be  found  on  the  earth 
after  the  millennium  is  over — what  can  they  do  with  them 
but  just  leave  them  where  they  were — upon  earth — and  as 
they  were — in  the  flesh — to  all  eternity  ?  Abhorrent  though 
the  idea  be,  I  do  not  see  how,  without  it,  or  something  very 
like  it,  the  scheme  can  be  gone  through  with.  It  is  the 
system,  then,  of  Christ's  coming  before  the  millennium,  which 
drives  sober  men  into  such  painful  speculations.*     Truly 

♦  I  am  extremely  unwiliing  to  give  offence  by  the  use  of  harsh  terms. 
On  this  point,  however,  I  believe  the  language  employed  in  this  para- 
graph will  commend  itself  to  all  who  are  not  deeply  committed  to  thu 
opinions  under  investigation. 


ON    THIS    VIEW.  175 

it  is  "  a  burdensome  stone"  to  all  who  warmly  espouse  and 
resolutely  hold  by  it, — dashing  against  every  truth,  and 
throwing  the  whole  system  into  disorder.  It  is  a  wedge 
which,  once  introduced  into  the  Word  of  God,  dislocates  it 
all,  and  unsettles  its  every  text.  One  way  of  clearing  all 
is  open,  and  only  one,  to  give  it  up. 

(3.)  If  there  is  to  be  a  Church-state  upon  earth,  and,  of 
course,  all  the  processes  of  salvation  of  souls  after  the  last 
judgment,  the  battle  against  the  universalisls — which,  on 
the  ordinary  principles  of  sound  theology,  used  to  be 
thought  an  easy  one — must  be  fought  over  again,  and  on 
altogether  new  ground.  We  must  concede  much  to  them, 
it  seems,  which  we  were  used  to  repudiate.  We  must  not 
only  admit  that  there  will  be  "  an  accepted  time  and  day  of 
salvation"  throughout  all  eternity  for  sinners  of  mankind, 
but  that  there  will  be  "  ages,"  or  (as  the  pre-millennialists 
interpret  that  terra  in  the  New  Testament)  dispensations  or 
economies  of  grace,  distinct  from  each  other,  and  following 
each  other  in  succession  ; — that  there  will  be  "  ages  of 
ages."  nay,  that  there  will  be  whole  "  generations  of  these 
ages  of  ages ;"  insomuch  that  the  apostle,  looking  through 
the  interminable  vista  of  them,  and  seeing  amidst  their 
endless  variety  a  Church-state  characterizing  them  all, 
ascribes  glory  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ  in  this  ever- 
changeful,  never-ceasing  Church  upon  earth  !  This  is 
what  we  must  concede,  I  say,  to  the  universalists,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Bickersteth,  Mr.  Birks,  Mr.  Lord,  &c.  What 
use  the  universalists  make  of  this  doctrine  of  post  millen- 
nial and  eternal  "  ages,"  is  known  to  every  one  acquainted 
with  the  literature  of  theology,  and  may  be  readily  conjec- 
tured by  those  who  are  not.  It  is  the  very  life  of  their 
system,  and  the  one  exegetical  plausibility  which  they  are 
able  to  urge.  And  though  our  esteemed  friends  may  guard 
their  views   against   universalism,   by  denying  that  this 


176  THE    WHOLE    CHUilCH 

Church-state  will  be  for  the  benefit  of  any  that  have  died 
rejecting  a  preached  gospel,  even  this  does  not  preclude  the 
notion  of  a  future  day  of  grace  being  extended  to  such  as 
have  died  in  heathenism, — a  notion  which  has  actually 
been  broached  by  a  few  of  the  bolder  pre-raillennialists. 
And  when  once  this  awfully  perilous  door  has  with  rash 
hand  been  opened,  it  will  not  be  found  so  easy  a  thing  to 
get  it  shut  again. 

We  have  thus  seen  that  our  friends  make  no  provision 
at  all  for  the  resurrection  or  transformation  of  those  who 
live  during  the  millennium, — that  though  they  draft  them, 
one  by  one  interminably,  into  the  glorified  state,  they  do 
not  pretend  to  show  any  revealed  arrangements  for  effecting 
so  important  a  change,  and  have  positively  no  Scripture  for 
removing  them  from  the  earth  at  all,  according  to  their 
way  of  interpreting  Scripture,  but  just  the  presumed  neces- 
sity of  their  getting  up  higher. 

Is  this  like  a  Scriptural  scheme  ? 

I  know  well  how  cordially  the  authors  I  have  referred 
to,  would  join  with  me  in  branding  every  thing  that  savours 
of  universalism.  But  I  think  it  neither  unbecoming  nor 
inappropriate  to  show  the  dangerous  weapons  with  which 
they  are  playing  ;  and  I  make  bold  to  ask  the  reflecting 
reader,  if  it  be  not  the  placing  Christ's  second  coming  before 
the  millennium  which  puts  these  weapons  into  his  hands  ? 

In  opposition  to  all  these  speculations,  I  affirm  as  follows: 

PROPOSITION  SIXTH. 


•'  MADE    alive'    at    ONCE THE    DEAD    BY    RESURRECTION, 

AND  THE  LIVING,  IMMEDIATELY  THEREAFTER,  BY  TRANS- 
FORMATION ;  THEIR  "  MORTALITY  BEING  SWALLOWED  UP  OF 
LIFE." 


AT    ONCE.  Vn 

O  how  firm  is  the  ground  we  tread  on  here!  What  a 
relief,  after  the  dangerous  region  we  have  just  been  drawn 
into,  and  the  insecure  footing  we  had  in  it — to  find  "  our 
foot  standing  in  an  even  place,"  and  '-our  goings  estab- 
lished !"  Reader,  look  on  this  proposition,  and  on  that  set 
up  in  opposition  to  it,  and  saj  which  commends  itself  most 
immediately  to  the  devout  student  of  Scripture  as  "  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit."  I  think  I  could  peril  the  whole  ques- 
tion upon  this  appeal. 

The  proof  of  this  proposition  has  been  given  already  in 
our  fourth  chapter.  The  same  passages  which  showed  the 
iAjinpleteness  of  the  Church  at  Christ's  coming,  proved  also 
their  siviultaneous  ap'pearance  in  the  glory  of  the  resurrection. 
I  do  not  infer  the  one  of  these  from  the  other — in  no  case 
do  we  need  to  do  this  ;  but  the  same  passages  establish 
both  things.  In  the  same  passages  we  find  the  whole 
Church  of  God  present  when  Christ  comes,  and  present  in 
the  glory  of  the  resurrection.  Let  us  just  glance  at  them 
again,  in  connexion  with  the  point  we  are  now  upon. 

The  formal  subject  of  our  first  passage  being  the  resur- 
rection of  believers^  and  it  being  the  most  comprehensive 
and  systematic  statement  on  the  subject  to  be  found  in 
Scripture,  let  us  recur  to  it. 

"  But  now  (says  the  apostle)  is  Christ  risen,  and  become  the  first- 
fruits  of  them  that  slept.  For  since  by  man  came  death,  by  man 
came  also  the  resurrection  of  thu  dead.  But  each  {hiaaroi  ^«,  each 
party,  the  Representative  and  the  represented)  in  his  own  order: 
Christ  the  first-fruits ;  afterward  they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  com- 
ing."—(1  Cor.  XV.  20-23.) 

The  point  of  comparison  here  between  Adam  and  Christ, 
as  was  noticed  before,  is  the  connexion  between  them  and 
their  respective  constituents.     The  apostle  assumes  that 


178  WHOLE    CHURCH    "MADE    ALIVE" 

Christ  stands  in  the  same  legal  and  vital  relation  to  thosK 
whom  he  represents,  as  Adam  does  to  those  for  whom  he 
stood.  As  the  wages  of  Adam's  sin  is  death,  so  the  merited 
reward  of  Christ's  righteousness  is  life.  And  the  apostle's 
argument  for  the  resurrection  of  them  that  sleep  in  Jesus 
is,  that  as  the  death — soul  and  body — of  all  them  that  stood 
in  Adam  has  not  only  been  procured  in  law,  but  hath  ac- 
tually "  passed  upon  all  men,  in  that  all  have  sinned"  in 
Adam  ;  so  the  life — in  body  as  well  as  soul — of  all  them 
that  are  Christ's,  has  not  only  been  absolutely  secured  in 
law,  but  must  infallibly  •'  pass  upon  them  all" — the  whole 
represented  company — '•  in  that  all  of  them  are  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  him."  It  is  not  the  death  and  life^ 
as  mere  events  in  men's  history,  of  which  the  apostle  is 
treating:  It  is  deatli  and  life  considered  as  the  reward  of 
merit^  as  the  tcages  paid  for  work  done^  and  under  the  strict 
operation  of  law.  Nor  is  it  death  and  life,  even  in  this 
sense,  to  each  individual  for  himself  and  by  himself:  It  is 
death  and  life  under  a  representative  constitution^  and  alto- 
gether within  the  limits  of  that  constitution  ;  the  merit  of 
each  of  the  two  Heads  taking  legal  and  actual  effect  upon 
the  entire  company  represented  by  them  respectively — in 
the  ruin  by  the  one,  and  rise  by  the  other — in  death  from 
the  one,  and  life  from  the  other,  body  as  well  as  soul. 

"  But  each  in  his  own  order."  That  is,  of  course,  each 
of  the  two  parties  just  mentioned — '•  Christ,"  and  "  all  who 
in  Christ  shall  be  made  alive  ;"  the  first  fruits,  and  the  sub- 
sequent harvest.  Here,  "  they  that  are  Christ's"  are  unde- 
niably identical  with  the  "  all  in  Christ  made  alive ;"  and 
both  expressions  clearly  denote  the  whole  company  repre- 
sented in  Christ  as  the  second  Adam,  the  '•  Mediator  of 
the  new  covenant" — all  to  whom  shall  ever  extend  the  legal 
virtue  of  his  obedience.  All  these  are  to  be  made  alive  at 
his  coming — not  some  of   them   then,  and  the  rest — one 


AT    ONCE OBJECTION.  IW 

irnows  not  when  ;  but  all  ahsolvtely^  numerically^  at  once, 
*'at  his  coming  " 

The  other  passages  need  no  comment — 

"  This  is  the  Father's  will  which  hath  sent  me,  that  of  all 
which  he  hath  given  me  I  should  lose  nothing,  but  should 
raise  it  up  again  a^  the  last  day.  And  this  is  the  will  of  Him 
that  sent  me,  that  every  one  which  secth  the  Son,  and  believeth  on 
him,  may  have  everlasting  life :  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the 
last  day." — (John  vi.  39,  40.) 

"  I  pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for  them  which  thou  hast  given  me^ 

Mark  the  contrast  here  between  "  the  world"  and  "  them 
that  have  been  given  to  Christ  by  the  Father,"  as  one  un- 
divided company — 

"  Father,  I  will  that  they  also,  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  be  with 
me  where  I  am ;  that  they  may  behold  my  glory,  which  thou 
hast  given  me." — (John  xvii.  9,  24.) 

The  connexion  of  these  passages  with  the  coming  of 
Christ  has  been  sufficiently  dwelt  on  in  our  fourth  chapter, 
and  the  all-inclusiveness  of  the  resurrection  and  glorifica- 
tion spoken  of  is  abundantly  evident. 

Here,  then,  I  might  close  this  chapter,  holding  the  proof 
of  our  proposition  to  be  complete,  that  all  who  have  been 
"  given  to  Christ  by  the  Father"  shall  appear  together,  iu 
the  glory  of  the  rcfcurrection,  at  his  coming. 

But  there  is  one  plausible  objection  to  which  I  must  ad- 
vert;  otherwise  entire  satisfaction  might  not  be  felt.  Pas- 
sages of  Scripture  are  adduced  which — it  is  alleged — con- 
nect the  resurrection  of  believers  with  events  confessedly 
millennial ;  showing  that  there  will  be  believing  men  living 
iu  the  flesh,  and  an  earthly  state,  after  that  resurrection 
of  believers  which  those  passages  speak  of.  Such,  for 
example,  is  Isa.  Ixv.  17,  undoubtedly  referred  to  in  2  Pet, 


180  OBJECTION REPLY. 

Hi.  13,  as  predicting  the  renovating  of  the  heavens  and 
the  earth;  and  such  are  Isa.  xxv.  8,  and  IIos.  xiii.  14 — 
both  quoted  in  1  Cor.  xv.  54,  55,  the  one  as  "  brought  to 
pass"  in  the  Church's  resurrection,  and  the  other  as  a  song 
of  triumph  because  of  the  same  event ;  both,  too,  furnish- 
ing the  language  in  which  the  celestial  glory  of  the  Church 
is,  in  Kev.  xxi.  4,  described. 

The  argument  from  these  passages  is  stated  in  very  much 
the  same  way  by  almost  all  defenders  of  the  pre-millennial 
advent.  I  shall  give  a  sentence  or  two  from  the  most  re- 
cent one  that  has  appeared,  and  the  rather  as  it  is  directed 
against  myself. 

"  The  testimony  of  Isa.  xxv.  8  (says  Mr.  H.  Bonar)  in  favour  of 
a  pre-millennial  advent,  is  very  strong ;  for  it  makes  resurrection 
antecedent  to  Israel's  earthly  blessedness  and  glory.  It  is,  moreover, 
one  of  a  series  occurring  in  this  prophet,  all  of  which  occur  in  the 
same  position  and  connexion,  establishing  the  priority  of  resui-rec- 
tion  to  the  triumphs  of  the  latter  day."  Speaking  of  isa.  xxv.  8,  he 
says,  "  I  cannot  imagine  any  passage,  or  series  of  passages,  more 
clear  and  conclusive  in  favour  of  the  pre-millennial  advent.  Their 
order  runs  thus : — Destruction  of  Antichrist ;  Resurrection  of  the 
Just;  Restoration  of  Israel."* 

Now,  let  the  reader  observe  the  singular  theory  on  which 
this  is  made  out — the  novel  principle  of  interpretation  on 
which  these  conclusions  are  founded.  It  is,  that  in  the  pro- 
phecies founded  on  there  are  two  distinct  parties  spoken  of, 
and  two  quite  different  states  of  things.  There  are  men  in 
thejlesh,  and  there  are  me/i  in  glory — the  latter  the  ruling 
men,  the  former  the  men  ruled  over.  The  subject-matter 
of  the  prophecies  in  question  is  the  millennial  kingdom,  in 

*  "The  Coming  and  Kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  pp.  175,  177 
(1S49.) 

Mr.  Elliott's  statement,  to  the  same  effect,  may  be  seen  in  his  Hor. 
Apoc.  iv.  202  (second  edition);  and  Dr.  M'Neile's,  in  his  "Sermons  en 
the  Second  Advent,"  No.  III. 


NOT    IN    THESE    PROPHECIES.  181 

two  distinct  and  contemporaneous  departments,  it  seems — 
the  one  a  celestial^  the  other  a  terrestrial  department ;  there 
is  an  upper,  and  there  is  a  lower  sphere — a  mortal  and  an 
immortal  class,  coexistent  and  contemporaneous,  in  these 
prophetic  passages.  Thus,  in  Isa.  xxv.  7 :  '*  He  will  de- 
stroy the  veil  that  is  spread  over  all  nations" — that  means 
the  millennial  nations,  the  men  in  the  flesh.  But  the  very 
next  words  (verse  8),  "  He  will  swallow  up  death  in  vie 
tory" — that  means  not  the  same  men,  at  the  same,  or  at 
more  advanced  stage  of  their  redemption,  but  risen  men 
contemporaneous  with,  and  holding  rule  over,  these  millen 
nial,  unglorified,  mortal  men. 

Need  I  appeal  to  any  ordinary  reader  of  the  Bible,  who 
ther  he  ever  saw  or  imagined  such  a  distinction  in  the 
passages  referred  to  ?  There  is  not  a  trace  of  this  twofold 
condition  of  the  Church — an  upper  and  a  lower,  a  mortal 
and  an  immortal,  a  terrestrial  and  a  celestial,  one  of  grace 
and  one  of  glory — coexistent  and  contemporaneous — in  the 
prophetic  strains.  There  may,  indeed,  be  some  difficulty 
in  ascertaining  the  scientific  principle  on  which  strains,  so 
catholic  and  all-embracing  in  their  sweep,  a-re  to  be  dealt 
with — how  predictions,  inclosing  the  whole  work  of 
Messiah  and  all  its  results,  are  to  be  expounded — how 
the  events  of  all  time,  as  they  stand  connected  with 
Christ — held  forth  before  the  eye  at  one  view  on  the 
panoramic  canvass  of  Old  Testament  prophecy — are  to  be 
resolved  and  sorted.  I  say,  there  may  be  some  difficulty 
about  the  proper  way  of  expounding  such  remarkable  por- 
tions of  divine  truth.  To  this  point  I  will  presently  advert 
in  the  Supplementary  Remarks.  But  these  I  purposely 
throw  into  a  place  by  themselves,  that  the  reader  may  not 
be  diverted  from  the  one  thing  on  which  this  argument 
hinges,  namely,  the.  presence  of  two  distinct  bodies  of  men  in 


182  NOT    TWO    CLASSES    OF    SAINTS. 

these  prophecies.  If  this  be  not  made  out,  then  the  plea 
from  these  prophecies  for  a  millennial  state  after  the  resur- 
rection of  saints,  vanishes  at  once. 

Now  let  the  reader  glance  at  any  one  of  the  predictions 
in  question,  and  see  if  he  can  find  this  alleged  twofoldncss 
in  the  Church  spoken  of  In  Isa.  xxv.  0-8,  for  example, 
it  is  one  class  of  men  (they  would  tell  us)  for  whom  the 
"  feast  of  fat  things  is  made ;"'  the  same  from  whom  •'  the 
vail"  of  ignorance  is  taken  away  ;  a  different  class  in  whose 
persons  "death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory  ;"  and  again  the 
former  class,  whose  "  tears  are  wiped  away"  and  whose  "  re- 
buke is  removed  from  off  all  the  earth  ?"  Was  ever  such 
a  way  of  explaining  the  prophecies  thought  of  by  unbiased 
readers  ?  Did  ever  critic  or  commentator,  worthy  of  the 
name,  commit  himself  to  such  capricious  principles  of  ex- 
position ?     Never  one  to  my  knowledge. 

I  dismiss  this  argument,  then,  as  having  nothing  to 
support  it.  That  the  resurrection,  and  the  new  heavens  and 
new  earth,  are  truly  predicted  in  the  prophecies  in  question, 
I  grant  most  readily,  and  that  it  is  by  no  accommodation 
of  them  that  the  apostles  Paul  and  Peter  quote  them  in 
this  sense.  I  grant,  too,  that  the  millenniai  state  is  held 
forth  in  the  same  prophecies: — in  short,  that  the  kingdoir 
of  Christ  in  all  its  stages  is  there.  In  this  all  orthodox 
interpreters  agree.  If  they  differ,  it  is  merely,  as  I  have 
expressed  it.  in  the  scientific  principle  on  which  the  com- 
mon result  should  be  brought  out  But  while  all  agree 
thus  far.  the  pre-millennialists  stand  alone — seeing  what 
none  but  themselves  will  ever  be  persuaded  is  to  be  seen 
in  these  prophecies — some  of  the  clauses  of  these  prophe- 
cies realised  in  men  walking  the  earth  in  flesh  and  blood, 
and  other  clauses  of  the  same  prophecies  accomplished  at 
the  same  time  in  men  beyond  the  reach  of  mortality.  And 
iLis   mere   assertion — capricious   and  unsustaincd — is  the 


SUPPLKM  RN  lAUV     HF.MARKS.  183 

whole  ground  of  their  argument  for  a  millennial  state  after 
the  resurrection  of  the  saints. 

Thus,  then,  the  evidence  of  Scripture  for  the  vivification 
of  the  whole  Church  of  God  at  once,  is  conclusive,  and 
there  is  none  against  it. 

SUPPLEMENTARY    REMARKS. 

I  have  said  that  orthodox  commentators,  in  expounding 
the  prophecies  which  are  quoted  in  the  New  Testament, 
while  agreeing  generally  in  their  results,  differ  somewhat 
in  their  way  of  bringing  them  out.  On  this  subject  I 
dwelt  at  some  length  in  my  former  edition  (at  dispropor- 
tionate length,  perhaps,  from  the  interest  I  felt  in  it  as  a 
critical  question.)  Mr.  H.  Bonar,  in  his  '•  Examination" 
of  my  book,  has  handled  this  part  of  it  in  a  strain  which, 
on  reflection,  he  will  probably  regret,  as  I  am  sure  that  he 
did  not  mean  to  misrepresent  my  sentiments  and  misquote 
my  words.  The  point  of  criticism  is  an  interesting  one,  and 
with  this  only  will  I  trouble  the  reader  for  a  few  moments. 

When  the  apostles  quote  the  Old  Testa me-nt  prophecies 
as  foretelling  the  resurrection,  the  new  heaven  and  new 
earth,  &c ,  it  is  taken  for  granted  on  all  hands  that  they 
give  the  true  sense  of  thcra — that  they  do  not  acconwiodate 
them,  as  the  neologians  affirm,  from  a  true  to  a  false  sense, 
a  sense  which  they  do  not  and  cannot  legitimately  bear. 
I  say,  this  is  taken  for  granted  on  all  hands  by  those  who 
feel  any  difficulty  on  the  point :  Those  who  believe  in  ac- 
commodatlon,  hare  no  difficulties — they  make  short  work 
of  it.  But  seeing  the  propliet,  in  the  same  passage  where 
these  final  and  perfect  things  are  predicted,  introduces 
things  neither  final  nor  perfect,  as  parts  of  one  and  the 
same  picture  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ — how  is  this  to  be 
explained  ?     That  is  tho  question  on  which  commentators 


184        M^HEREIN    EXPOSITORS    AGREE    AND    DIFFER. 

somewhat  differ.  Prebendary  Lowth,  for  example,  sup* 
posing  that  the  physical  renovation  of  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  is  not  only  truly  predicted  in  Isa.  Ixv.  1 7,  because 
Peter  says  so  (2  Pet.  iii.  13),  but  is  the  prominent  idea  of 
renovation  in  the  passage,  is  led  to  apply  the  next  verse  of 
the  prophecy  to  the  same  heavenly  state : 

"  But  be  ye  glad  and  rejoice  for  ever  in  that  which  I  create  ;  for 
behold  I  create  Jemsalcm  a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy. — (Verse 
18.)  "  This,"  says  that  sensible  expositor,  "  may  be  best  expounded 
by  the  New  Jerusalem,  which  shall  '■  come  down  from  God,'  when 
the  new  heavens  and  earth  are  created. — See  Rev.  xxi.  1,  2,  and 
compare  chapter  Ixvi.  22,  where  '  there  shall  be  no  more  death, 
neither  sorrow  nor  crying,  nor  pain,'  ibid,  verse  4,  and  the  following 
verse  here." 

Others  reverse  this  method  ;  and  conceiving  that  "  the 
creation  of  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy" 
(v.  18),  relates  not  so  directly  to  the  heavenly  as  to  the 
earthly  Jerusalem,  they  are  disposed  to  extend  the  same 
view  to  the  foregoing  verse,  making  "  the  new  heavens  and 
new  earth"  which  God  was  to  "create"  (v.  17.)  to  be  a 
moral  rather  than  a  physical  creation. 

"  The  apostles,  Peter  and  John  (says  Scott,  on  vv.  17-19), 
use  the  expression  '  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth'  for  the 
heavenly  state,  after  the  end  of  the  world  and  the  day  of  judg- 
ment ;  and  St.  Peter  says,  that  '  we  look  for  it  according  to  his 
promise,^  which  may  refer  to  this  very  passage :  yet  the  coniext  re- 
quires vs  to  interpret  the  words,  in  this  place,  of  that  state  of  t/ie 
Church  on  earth  which  shall  most  resemble  tiie  world  of  glory,  in 
knowledge,  holiness,  and  felicity,  and  which  will  terminate  in 
it  By  the  new  creating  power  of  God,  the  circumstances  of  the 
Church,  and  the  character  of  men,  shall  be  so  altered  that  it  Avill 
appear  as  entirely  a  new  world;  so  that  the  former  confusions, 
iniquities,  and  miseries  of  the  human  race  shall  be  no  more  remem- 
bered or  renewed.  The  servants  of  God  are  therefore  commanded 
to  rejoice  in  this  new  state  of  things,  which  he  was  about  to  create ; 


WHEREIN    EXPOSITORS    AGREE    AND    DIFFER.         185 

fcr  he  would  make  Jerusalem  (the  true  Church)  and  all  her  in- 
hahitaris  joyful,  and  a  joy  to  all  around  them;  nay,  he  would  re- 
joice in  them,  and  put  a  final  end  to  all  their  sorrows  and  com- 
plaints." 

Calvin,  with  his  usual  judgment,  avoids  both  these  ex- 
tremes. He  sees  in  it  fundamentally  an  announcement  of 
that  NEW  CREATION  of  whicli  Christ  is  the  author,  and  his 
work  in  the  flesh  is  the  grand  foundation  ;  he  sees  it  real- 
ized, when  "  if  any  man  be  in  Christ  there  is  a  new  creation" 
(/foji/ij  Krtvis,  2  Cor.  V.  17);  he  sees  it  realized  in  every 
new  face  which  the  Gospel  puts  upon  human  affairs  and 
human  society  ;  and  he  sees  it  realized  in  its  highest  and 
most  perfect  sense,  only  at  Christ's  second  coming,  •'  when 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  shall  be  wholly  renewed  and  be 
brought  into  a  perfect  state.  And  hence  it  appears  (he 
adds),  as  we  have  often  observed,  that  the  prophet  has  re 
spect  to  the  whole  kingdom  of  Christ,  even  to  tj 
which  is  termed  accordingly  the  day  of  r| 
restitution."  * 


*  His  metaphoris  (v.  17)  promittit  insignem  rerum  n».^..^^.w».,  »»  p. 
diceret  Deus,  sibi  in  animo  esse,  atque  etiam  in  manu,  n^^ra^k}oT<^i- 
tuere  Ecclesiam  suam,  sed  ita  restituere  ut  novam  y'Mttai  oDtlnere, 
atque  in  novo  mundo  habitare  videatur.  Hyperbolicae  sunt1»ae  locu- 
tiones,  sed  non  potuit  aliter  exprimi  tanti  beneficii  magnitude,  qnod 
adventu  Christi  exliibendum  erat.  Nee  vero  de  prinio  tantum  ad- 
ventu  intelligit,  sed  de  universo  regno,  quod  ad  extremum  usque  adven- 
tum  protendi  debet :  siculi  jam  aliis  locis  dictum  est.  Itaque  per 
Christum  mundus  quodammodo  renovatur :  unde  etiam  Apostolus  ad 
Hebr.  Saeculum  novum  appellat ;  nee  dubium  quin  banc  Prophetae  sen- 

tentiam  spectarit Atque  nos  etiamnum  in  cursu  sumus  ;  ticc 

ista  complebuntur  usque  ad  resurrectioncin  ultimam,  quce  nobis  velut  metu 

constituta  est Meminerimus  heec  in  nobis  eatenus  habere  locum 

quatenuj-  renovati  sumus.  Sumus  autem  duntaxat  ex  parte  renovati ; 
ideoque  nondum  plane  ccelian  novum  et  terram  novum,  cernimus.  Non 
est  igitur  niiruiii  nioeroies  nobis  et  luctus  superesse,  quando  nondura 
exuiinus  omnino  veterem  hominem,  sed  multae  adhuc  supersunt  reliquisB : 
novitas  autem  nobis  initium  facere  dc bet,  quia  primum  ordinem  tene 
<i2 


186  CALVIN. 

On  the  same  principle,  of  what  Bacon  calls  the  germi- 
nant  accomplishment  of  prophecy,  Calvin  explains  Isa. 
XXV.  6-8,  including  the  words,  •'  He  will  swallow  up 
death  in  victory,"  as  "  relating,  without  doubt,  to  the  whole 
kingdom  of  Christ.  I  sa}^,  his  whole  kingdom  (he  empha- 
tically adds),  embracing  not  only  the  commencement,  but 
the  consummation  and  the  goal."  He  conceives  that  the 
immortal  character  of  the  felicity  that  belongs  to  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  is  the  radical  idea  in  the  words,  '•  He 
will  swallow  up  death  in  victory" — in  contrast  with  the 
"  temporary  and  fading"  character  of  all  other  joys  ;  but 
such  an  immortality  as  will  not  only  survive  the  death  of 
all  that  is  seen  and  temporal,  but  will  extend  to  the  whole 
man,  embracing  the  resurrection  of  the  body  and  the  resti 
tution  of  this  blighted  world.* 

Now  any  one  who  has  read  what  I  said  upon  these 
prophecies  in  my  former  edition,  must  have  seen  that  this 
last  way  of  bringing  out  the  sense  of  them  was  the  one  I 

mus,  et  nostro  pecc«to  creaturae  ingemiscunt,  ei  vanitati  subjectae  sunt, 
ut  ostendit  PauJus.  Ubi  vero  plenissime  fueiinms  renovati,  caZam  quo- 
gue  et  terra  penitus  renovabuntur,  integrumque  statum  recipient.  Atque 
hinc  colligendum,  quod  saepius  notaviinus,  Prophetamuniversum  Ckristi 
regnum  spectare,  usque  ad  metam  ultimam,  quae  etiani  dies  renovationis 
et  instaurationis  appellatur, — {In  Isa.  Comm.  ad  loc.) 

*  In  summa,  promittit  solidam  foelicltatem  futuram  sub  Christ!  regno, 
quod  ut  melius  exprimat,  utitur  variis  figuris  apte  ad  rem  ipsam  accom- 
modatis.  Vera  est  ista  faelicitas,  non  temporaria  aut  caduca,  quam  nee 
mors  ipsa  adimere  potest;  quia  in  rebus  laetissimis  defectus  hie  non 
parum  laetitiam  niinuit,  si  desit  immortalitas.  Duo  igitur  conjungit, 
quae  foelicitatem  perfectam  et  absolutam xedAnvii :  primuni,  quod  perpetua 
sit  vita  (nam  iis  qui  beati  alioqui  sunt  ad  ternpus,  interire  miserum  est) 
deinde,  vita  haec  gaudio  conjuncta  est ;  nam  alioqui  moestae  et  Eerumnosae 
vitas  mors  videtur  praeferenda.  .  .  .  Sed  quceri  potest,  ad  quod  tempus 
referendae  sint  istae  promissiones  7  nam  in  hoc  mundo  conflictandum 
nobiscum  variis  aerumnis,  assidueque  pugnandum  est :  nee  tantum  des- 
tinati  sumus  morti,  sed  quotidie  morimur,  .  .  .  Ubi  igitur,  aut  quando, 
habC  locum  habent?     Hand  dubie  ad  universum  Ckristi  regnum  vefer' 


COMPREHENSIVENESS    OF    THESE    PROPHECIES.       181 

adopted — the  one  which  I  thought  most  consonant  with 
the  catholic,  all  embracing  fulness  which  distinguishes 
these  majestic  oracles — the  one  which,  while  it  admitted 
of  our  seeing  in  them  all  that  the  apostles  quoted  them  for, 
allowed  of  our  seeing  more  than  that  in  tliem,  without  in 
the  least  displacing  or  disturbing  the  other  ;  that  as  they 
embraced  '•  the  whole  kingdom  of  Christ,  from  his  first  to 
his  second  advent"  (to  use  the  words  of  Calvin),  there  was 
ample  room  in  them  for  the  earlier  and  the  later  stages  to 
lie  peaceably  together — the  starting-point  and  "  the  goal" 
to  be  seen  in  the  same  prophetic  stadium ;  so  that  the 
apostles  might  select  any  one  of  the  stages  of  the  kingdom 
— the^?i^Zone,  if  it  suited  the  subject  they  had  in  hand  ; 
and,  quoting  the  words  of  the  prophecies  in  question, 
might  say  with  perfect  truth,  that  •'  then  shall  be  brought  to 
pass  the  sayings  therein  written,"  without  thereby  excluding 
every  other  and  previous  stage  of  the  same  kingdom — as 
if  the  same  words  could  receive  no  accomplishment  in 
them,  but  must  necessarily  be  limited  to  the  one  stage  and 
period  of  the  kingdom  for  which  the  apostles  refer  to  them. 
Moreover,  in  showing  how  the  prophecy  in  Isa.  xxv.  6-8, 
was  to  be  expounded  on  this  comprehensive  principle, 
and  how  much  we  missed  by  restricting  any  of  its  clauses 
exclusively  to  the  resurrection  of  the  body — in  expatiating 
on  the  fulfilment  of  it  in  the  stages  prior  to  this — I  took 
occasion  to  say,  that  ''•  the  feast"  predicted  can  mean 
nothing  but  the  Salvation  of  the  Gospel — ''  made  unto  all 
people"  properly  when  it  was  prepared  by  Christ's  work 
in  the  flesh,  and  the  universal  invitation  to  come  to  it  was 


endd  sunt :  universum  dico ;  quia  non  tantum  iniiium  spectandum  est, 
sed  etiam  complement um  et  mefa.  Aique  ita  usque  ad  secundum  Christi 
adventum  extendi  debet,  qui  proptereadies  redemptionis  et  instauratio- 
nis  vocatur ;  quoniam  omnia  quae  nunc  videntur  confusa  restiruentur  in 
integrum,  et  novam  formam  induent.— (/n  Isa.  xxv.  8.) 


188      COMPREHENSIVENESS       F    THESE    PROPHECIES. 

thereupon  issued  ;  that  the  prophet,  nevertheless,  sees 
the  actual  ••  feasting"  of  all  people  at  this  gospel  table, 
which  carries  us  onwards  to  the  general  submission  of  tho 
nations  to  Christ,  with  its  saving  effects  ;  and  that  while 
this  is  the  stage  of  the  kingdom — its  stage  of  fullest  develop* 
ment  upon  earth,  and  the  next  to  its  heavenly  stage — on 
which  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  seems  chiefly  to  repose  in  the 
swell  of  this  glorious  prophecy,  yet  "  there  is  not  one  of 
the  terms  by  which  the  state  of  grace  is  there  described, 
which  does  not  convey  underneath  it  an  announcement  of 
the  corresponding  state  of  glory ;  that  it  is,  in  fact,  tho 
same  thing  at  two  different  stages  of  its  progress  which  is 
described,  the  one  farther  for  tear  d  than,  and  the  perfection 
of.  the  other  ;  and,  as  Christ's  work  secured  the  whole,  so 
all  that  ever  will  be  is  seviinally  contained  in  the  Church's 
present  state,  and  truly  couched  under  every  description 
of  that  state."— (Pp.  204,  &c.)* 


*  Will  the  reader  believe  that  for  thus  expounding  these  propheciea 
I  am  classed  with  Swedenborg,  in  expelling  the  corporeal  to  make  way 
for  a  mere  spiritual  resurrection,  and  with  Neologlans,  such  as  Jaspis, 
in  charging  the  apostles  with  accommodating  prophecies  that  mean  one 
thing  to  a  purpose  that  makes  them  mean  quite  another  thing? — After 
showing  the  application  of  the  prophecy  last  noticed  to  those  stages  of 
the  kingdom  that  -precede  the  resurrection,  I  spoke  of  the  "delightful 
sense"  of  the  prediction  thus  obtained,  and  "  how  much  we  are  deprived 
of  by  those  who.  admitting  no  sense  but  that  of  physical  resurrection, 
would  carry  us  straight  into  the  eternal  state  with  these  words,  over  the 
head  of  all  that  is  terrestrial  in  the  meaning  of  them."  In  this  passage 
I  am  made  to  say  by  Mr.  Bonar,  that  the  prophecy  "  does  not  refer  to 
corporeal  resuscitation  but  to  spiritual  revival,  wliich  he  affirms  (says  Mr. 
Bonar),  to  be  a  more  delightful  meaning  than  the  other.  ' — (Pp.  175,  176.) 
Mr.  Bonar  must  see  that  he  thus  misrepresents  me  her.? — I  am  sure  un- 
wittingly— as  I  made  no  comparison  between  any  one  meaning  and 
another,  and  still  less  between  a  corporeal  and  a  spiritual  resuscitation; 
and  that,  as  they  were  all  "  delightful "  to  me,  I  grudged  being  deprived 
of  any  of  them  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  exclusive  place  for  one 
of  them.    Not  content  with  this,  when  I  speak  of  ihe  primary  meaninn 


PROFESSOR    ALEXANDER.  189 

I  have  only  to  add,  in  concluding  these  supplementary 
remarks,  that  Professor  Alexander  takes  the  same  compre- 
hensive view  of  the  prophecies  which  have  engaged  our 
attention,  in  his  recent  and  valuable  Commentary  on  '•  The 
Earlier  and  Later  Prophecies  of  Isaiah." 

of  a  prophecyj  Mr.  Bonar  charges  me  with  making  the  secondary  one 
"  subordinate"  and  so  disparaging  the  apostles,  in  their  quotations  of 
them.— (P.  181,  note.)  This  is  something  new.  If  T  say  of  the  4lst 
Psalm,  for  example,  that  it  has  a  primary  reference  to  David,  and  to 
Ahithophel,  who  "ate  of  his  bread  and  lifted  up  his  heel  against  him," 
do  I  menn  that  its  reference  to  Christ  and  the  traitor  Judas  is  subordi- 
nate? No,  but  secondary.  It  is  the  difference  between^rsf  and  next  in 
point  of  timCf  as  every  one  acquainted  with  the  language  of  theology 
knows.  "  Not  as  if  this  secondary  sense,"  says  Prebendary  Lowth, 
"were  less  principally  intended  by  the  prophets,  but  rather  with  respect 
to  the  time,  because  it  is  the  last  or  ultimate  completion  of  their  predict 
-(Preface  to  Commentary  on  the  Prophets.) 


CHAPTER  IX. 

RESURRECTION    OF    ALL    THE    WICKED     AT    THE    COMING    OP 
CHRIST. 

I  HAVE  shown  that  the  whole  Church  of  God  will  be 
simultaneously  "  made  alive"  at  the  second  advent.  I  now 
proceed  to  show,  that  at  the  same  time  a  like  process  shall 
pass  upon  the  opposite  class 

PROPOSITION  SEVENTH: 

ALL    THE    WICKED    WILL    RISE    FROM    THE    DEAD,    OR    BE 
"  MADE    ALIVE,"    AT    THE    COMING    OF    CHRIST. 

In  establishing  this,  let  us  first  observe  the  arguments 
which  have  been  brought  to  prove  two  separate  resurrec- 
tions, the  one  at  the  beginnings  and  the  other  at  the  end  of 
the  millennium. 

And  here,  one  cannot  but  be  struck,  at  the  outset,  with 
the  character  and  the  amount  of  the  evidence  offered  us  in 
proof  of  such  a  position.  One  direct  intimation  of  a  ''  first 
resurrection,"  and  one  only,  is  alleged  to  exist.  And  where 
is  that  one  plain  statement?  In  confessedly  the  mo^t  diffi- 
cult book  of  Scripture,  the  most  symbclical  in  its  structure 
2Lnd  figurative  in  its  style,  and,  I  may  add,  in  that  part  of 
the  book  on  the  precise  sense  of  which  there  has  been,  per- 
haps, the  greatest  diversity  of  opinion.  Additional  evidence 
is,  indeed,  alleged  to  exist  in  favour  of  a  first  resurrection, 
though  only,  it  is  admitted,  confirmatory,  and  but  for  the 
plain  revelation  of  it  in  this  one  passage,  scarcely  sufficient 
to  rely  on.  As  Mr.  Bickersteth  somewhere  says,  "  This 
(in  the  book  of  Revelation)  is  the  seat  of  the  doctrine." 


i      PRIOR     RESURRECTION.  191 

Hear  their  own  estimate  of  the  character  and  amount 
of  the  evidence  they  have  to  offer  us  for  a  "  first  resurrec- 
tion." 

"  But  the  first  resurrection,"  says  the  candid  and  acute  Mr.  Blrks, 
"  ofiers  a  still  severer  trial  to  the  faith  of  the  Christian.  We  can- 
not here  appeal  to  innumerable  texts  where  it  is  plainly  revealed. 
The  analogy  of  Scriptrue,  however  decisive  in  its  favour,  appears 
at  first  sight  obscure  and  ambiguous.  In  maintaining  this  doctrine, 
therefore,  we  have  to  rest  only  upon  the  Word  of  God,  and  cMcJlij  on 
this  one  prophecy. — (Rev.  xx.)  Why  then  should  a  doctrine,  in  ap- 
fearancc  so  disputable  and  beset  with  such  difficulties,  be  now  pressed 
on  the  attention  of  the  Church  1  The  answer  is  very  plain.  Grant 
for  one  moment  that  the  doctrine  is  true,  and  you  must  feel  that  it 
is  one  of  deep  interest  to  ourselves."  * 

Of  course  ;  but  grant  what  has  just  been  granted  as  to 
the  evidence  for  it,  and  its  truth  cannot  but  appear  suspi- 
cious. No  doubt,  God  has  a  right  to  reveal  truth  as  he 
pleases ;  but  we  observe  God's  way  of  revealing  truth  to 
be  very  different  from  this.  We  do  not  find  such  grand 
and  delightful,  such  stirring  and  influential  truths  wrapt 
up  in  mystic  folds,  reserved  for  apocalyptic  disclosure, 
apparmtly  negatived  by  all  those  passages  which  we  might 
expect  to  be  the  very  "  seats"  of  those  truths,  and  only 
peeping,  by  their  own  account,  '•  obscurely  and  ambiguous- 
ly" through  a  few  passages  and  expressions.  And  we  say 
that  this  constitutes  a  prima  facie  presumption,  of  the 
strongest  nature,  against  the  doctrine  of  a  "  first  resurrec- 
tion," literally  understood. 

Waiving,  for  the  present,  the  iired  passage,  let  us  look 
at  those  which  are  thought  to  confirm  this  expectation. 
They  are  of  two  classes : 

*  Lent  Lectures,  "«The  Second  Coming,"  &c.,  pp.  155,  156. 

Some,  thinking  that  Mr.  Birks  has  here  admitted  too  much,  have  ix\:i 
to  show  that  the  doctrine  is  cZirec/!/y  expressed  elsewhere;  but  their  at- 
tempts to  sho'v  this  are  the  best  proof  to  the  contrary. 


192  RESURRECTION    OF    BELIEVERS    PECULI\R 

(1.)  Such  as.  while  treating  formally  of  the  resurrection 
of  believers,  make  no  mention  at  all  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  wicked — a  thing  natural,  it  is  alleged,  supposing 
each  to  have  a  time  of  its  own,  but  difficult  to  account  for 
if  both  classes  rise  together.  In  this  class,  1  Cor.  xv.  and 
1  Thess.  iv.  are  usually  adduced. 

The  answer  to  this  is  very  simple.  The  wicked  are  ex- 
cluded from  these  passages,  not  because  they  will  not  rise 
at  the  same  ti7ne  with  the  righteous,  but  because  they  will 
not  rise  on  the  same  pri7iciple.  They  will  not  rise  as 
represented  by  and  entitled  to  life  in  Christ  When  He 
said  to  his  disciples.  "  Because  I  live  ye  shall  live  also," 
he  enunciated  a  principle  under  which  the  wicked  do  not 
stand,  and  spoke  of  a  life  which  they  will  never  taste 
The  character  of  that  life,  the  grounds  of  it.  and  the; 
subjects  of  it,  are  all  restrictive.  What  have  the  wicked 
to  do  with  a  resurrection  which  Christ  secured  for  h'w 
people  by  his  meritorious  righteousness,  as  the  second 
Adam — a  resurrection  of  which  his  own  was  the  blessed 
pledge  ?  In  such  a  train  of  thought  as  in  1  Cor.  xv.,  tho 
resurrection  of  the  wicked  had  been  out  of  place.  Raised 
on  a  different  principle,  they  are  set  aside,  and  do  not 
once  come  into  view.  It  would  but  have  clogged  and 
diluted  an  argument  whose  force  depends  on  points  appli 
cable  exclusively  to  believers^  to  have  connected  with  them 
the  case  of  the  unbelieving,  and  massed  up  together  the 
objects  of  the  new  covenant  and  the  victims  of  the  old 
"  He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life :  he  that  hath  not  thu 
Son  of  God  hath  not  lifeJ''  "  He  that  belie veth  on  the  Son 
hath  everlasting  life  :  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shali, 
NOT  see  LIFE,  but  the  wrath  of  urod  abideth  on  him." — 
(1  John  V.  12;  John  iii.  36.)  When  •any  thing  common 
to  both  is  spoken  of,  such  as  the  judgment — then  we  have 
the  resurrection  of  both  classes  at  once,  as  we  shall  soon 


TO    THEMSELVES — DUTCH    REMONSTRANTS.  193 

see  expressed  in  the  most  unequivocal  terms.  But  when 
the  subject  in  hand  is  something  peculiar  to  believers, 
the  exclusion  of  the  wicked  from  such  passages  is  just 
what  we  expect.  It  does,  indeed,  imply  that  believers 
rise  ALONE,  that  is,  on  a  principle  peculiar  to  themselves^  anfl 
in  a  company  amongst  whom  the  wicked  are  not  found 
But  it  does  not  imply  that  no  others  rise  contcmporayieously 
with  them,  that  in  a  company  by  themselves,  and  on  a 
principle  of  their  own,  the  wicked  will  not  rise  at  the  same 
time. 

It  may  strengthen  these  remarks,  and  be  interesting  to 
some  to  know,  that  the  extreme  Socinians  and  the  Socini- 
anizing  party  of  the  Dutch  Remonstrants  employed  these 
very  passages  to  prove — not  that  the  wicked  would  not 
rise  at  the  same  time  with  the  righteous,  but  that  they  would 
not  rise  at  all.  And  how  were  they  answered  by  ortho- 
dox divines  ?  They  were  ansioered  precisely  as  I  have  an- 
swered the  pre-millennialisls — by  showing  that  the  resur- 
rection treated  of  in  the  passages  adduced  was  a  resur- 
rection peculiar  to  believers,  with  which  the  wicked  have 
nothing  to  do.* 

*  Enimvero — says  Marckius,  in  an  elaborate  treatise  on  "The  Ex- 
pectation of  the  Future  Glory  of  Jesus  Christ" — magis  ab  adversantibus 
urgeri  solet,  quod  resuscitatio  passim  spectetur  ui  privilegium  seu  pecu- 
liare  bonum  piorurn  et  fidelium,  in  quo  hinc  impii  et  infideles  partem  non 
habeant  ullam.  [He  then  refers  to  Luke  xx.  35-37;  to  Luke  xiv.  14, 
*'  The  resurrection  of  the  just ;"  to  John  vi.  39,  and  xiv.  19,  "  Because  I 
live  ye  shall  live  also;"  and  to  1  Thess.  iv.  14 — as  the  passages  on  which 
the  adversaries  founded.]  Verum  quam  parum  adversus  fidem  nostrani 
obstent  ista  omni.i  et  similia  forte  plura,  jam  supra  audivimus  ex  Soci- 
nianorum  quorundam  ore  proprio;  ubi  ipsi  nobiscum  observant,  Resus- 
citationem  et  Resurrectionem  saepe  sumi  strictius,  pro  Beata  et  laeta  ad 
Beatitatem  iEternam,  de  qua  nemo  dubitct  quin  ista  sit  piis  propria,  et  ex 
unione  arctissima  cum  Ckrisio  unicejluens;  dum  heic  latiori  sensu  vocem 
capimus  de  qtialicunque  hominum  restitutione  ex  pulvere  in  vitam,  uti 
hanc  vox  ilia  simpliciter  dicit.  Eodem  modo,  quo  solemus  nos  ex  Scrip- 
turi  Vitam  ^ternani  vindicare  soils  piis,  dum  Mortem  ./Eiernara  tribui- 

R 


194     JESUS  DIED BELIEVERS  SLEEP  IN  HIM. 

I  have  only  further  to  add  on  these  passages,  that  the 
reason  I  have  given  for  the  exclusion  of  the  wicked  from 
them,  is  that  which  commentators  generally  assign.*  Yery 
sweet,  by  the  way,  is  the  distinction  noticed  by  Bengel — 
not  more  distinguished  for  critical  acumen  than  for  grace 
— when  commenting  upon  these  words  of  the  apostle 
(1  Thess.  iv.  14.)  "If  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose 
again,  even  so  them  also  that  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring 
with  hirrC^  (because  united  to  him).  The  apostle  says  Jesus 
died^  but  believers  sleep.  It  is  not  said  that  Jesus  slept. 
His  was  another  death  from  his  people's.  "  He  tasted  death 
for  every  one"  of  them  {"Tep  jravroj,  Heb.  ii.  9),  that  they 
might  sleep  in  Him."  f 


mus  impiis  ;  neque  sic  negamus  iinpios  revicturos,  ut  etiam  deinde  vivere 
non  desinant  unquain  inter  dolores  ineffabiles,  quidquid  optarent.  Illud 
autem  inter  ista  duo  est  discrimen ;  quod  jEterna-m  Vi.tam  nunquam 
tiibuamus impiis,  quia  illam  phrasin  nusquam  tarn  late  Scriptura  usurpat, 
sed  constanter  piis,  vindicat;  i&c. — {Erpectatio  GloricB  Faturce  Jesu 
Chrlsti  Illtcstrata,  Lib.  ii.  cap.  xii.  4.)  See  also  De  Mook,  Comvi.  xxxiv. 
§  15.     &c. 

*  Scriptura — says  Bengel,  on  1  Cor.  xv.  22 — ubicunque  cum  fidelibus 
agit,  de  ipsorum  resurrectione  agit  primario;  1  Thess.  iv.  13,  s.  de  im- 
piorum  resurrectione,  incidenter. 

On  verse  23,  after  saying,  as  quoted  before,  that  Christians  are  "  a  sort 
of  appendix  to  the  First-Fruits,"  he  adds — Eodem  tempore  resurgent 
impii  ;  sed  illi  non  veniunt  sub  hunc  beaium  censurn. 

"  They  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming."  Paul  (says  he)  does  not  call 
it  the  judgment ;  quia  cumjidelibusagit. 

t  I  am  surprised  that  a  man  of  Mr.  Birks'  judgment,  should  say  that 
'*  the  topic  of  consolation  which  the  apostle  suggests"  to  the  Thessalo- 
nians  here  "is  one  of  priority  in  time.  '  We  who  are  alive  (the  apostle 
says)  shall  not  be  beforehand  with  them  that  sleep  '  "  (p.  174) ;  and  from 
this  raise  an  argument  in  favour  of  a  first  resurrection  of  saints  in  gene- 
ral before  that  of  sinners.  The  apostle,  wishing  to  assure  them  that  their 
departed  brethren  would  lose  nothing  by  being  in  their  graves  when  the 
time  for  Christ's  coming  shall  arrive,  communicates  to  them  a  special 
revelation  which  he  seems  to  have  had  on  the  subject,  namely,  that  the 
sleeping  portion  of  Christ's  people  shall  rise  before  any  change  passes 
upon  the  livings  in  order  that  they  may  be  ^^  caught  up  together  in  the 


ATTAINING  THE  RESURRECTION  FROM  THE  DEAD.  195 

A  good  deal  of  stress  seems  to  be  laid  on  one  passage 
belonging  rather  to  the  next  class,  but  to  be  explained 
bj  the  principle  now  stated.     I  mean. 

Phil.  iii.  11 :  "  If  by  any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead." 

Why,  it  is  asked,  should  the  apostle  be  so  anxious  to 
attain  to  a  general  resurrection,  alike  certain  to  the  righte- 
ous and  the  wicked  1  The  simple  answer  is,  It  was  not  the 
general  resurrection  he  was  striving  to  attain  to — it  was 
not  a  resurrection  common  to  both  classes.  It  was  a  re- 
surrection peculiar  to  believers, — a  resurrection  exclusively 
theirs. — exclusive,  however,  not  in  the  time  of  it,  but  in  its 
nature^  its  accompaniments,  and  its  issv£s.  This  is  put  be- 
yond doubt  in  the  two  last  verses  of  the  chapter,  where  all 
its  peculiarity,  all  that  for  which  it  is  desired,  is  made  to 
lie  in  the  thing  itself,  and  not  in  the  time  of  it : 

"  From  heaven  (says  the  apostle  in  his  own  name,  and  that  of  all 
believers)  we  look  for  the  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ: 
who  shall  change  our  vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like 
unto  his  glorious  body,  according  to  the  working  whereby  he 
is  able  even  to  subdue  all  things  unto  himself" — (Vv.  20, 
21.)* 

clouds  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air,  and  so  be  (as  one  body)  ever  with 
the  Lord."  That  the  analogy  of  the  judgment  (Matt,  xxv.)  and  other 
analogies  are  in  favour  of  the  righteous  being  first  "  made  alive,"  and 
then  the  wicked,  has  been  I  believe  universally  the  mind  of  the  Church. 
Bu  such  a  priority  of  saints  to  sinners,  as  of  dead  to  living  saints,  forms 
not  the  slenderest  argument,  in  my  judgment,  in  favour  of  a  thousand 
years  interval  between  the  two. 

*  Our  version,  "from  whence"  (we  look,  &c.),  rightly  expresses  the 
adverbial  sense  of  «^  oi,  here.  Bengal  and  others  connect  it  with 
iroX(rev/io,  because  it  cannot  refer  to  ovpavoTi.  But,  as  Winer  (Gramm. 
of  Gr.  Test.  Idioms)  remarks,  E|  ov,  in  the  usage  of  the  language,  has 
become  an  adverb,  and  signifies  uncle,  whence. — (Amer.  Transl.  p.  123. 
1840.) 


196  MR.    BIRKS'    VIEW    OF    THIS. 

The  expressive  contrast  (not  so  vivid  in  our  version  as 
in  the  original)  between  the  body  of  our  humbled  and 
the  body  of  his  glorified  condition,*  points,  as  do  the  pre- 
ceding passages,  to  the  fontal  character  of  Christ's  resurrec* 
tion,  and  stamps  the  resurrection  looked  for  at  Christ's 
appearing,  as  one  having  its  cause  in  the  merit,  and  its 
character  in  that  of  "  the  First-begotten  of  the  dead."  It  is 
this^  and  not  the  time  of  it, — that  limits  it  of  necessity  to 
believers. 

But  "  the  word  (says  Mr  Birks)  is  a  compound  which 
occurs  here  only,  and  might  be  rendered  '  the  peculiar  re- 
surrection.' The  emphasis  is  even  redoubled, — '  the  pecu- 
liar resurrection,  even  that  from  among  the  dead.'  "f 
That  the  sentiment  of  the  apostle,  in  this  verse,  is  an  em- 
phatic one — the  desire  expressed  an  intense  one — is  mani- 
fest enough  ;  although,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  note  below, 
I  do  not  attach  much  importance  to  the  mere  formula 
which  the  apostle  here  employs  to  express  the  resurrection 
which  he  longed  to  reach.  He  who  sees  the  glory  of  that 
resurrection  which  is  held  forth  as  the  goal  of  the  "  race 
set  before  us,"  will  think  it  ^-peculiar"  enough  ;  but  if  he 

*   To  acjua  T.  Taweivcaasois  fjfiiiv — tcj  aoi/jart  r.  Jo^ijf  avToi. 

t  If  Mr.  Birks  used  the  received  text  (and  he  gives  no  intimation  to 
the  contrary),  this  is  not  correct,  the  preposition,  rendered  "from," 
being  not  doubled,  but  merely  compounded  with  the  first  noun  in- 
stead of  being  prefixed  to  the  second  {e^avaaraais  tmv  vSKpoiv=:avaar. 
tK  vcKp.,  the  article  being  omitted  in  this  latter  form).  But  the  prefera- 
ble reading  appears  to  be  the  reduplicated  form,  "  The  resurrection  thai 
from  the  dead"  {s^av.  rriv  ek  vcKpoiv).*  Though  this,  however,  was 
originally  an  emphatic  form,  it  came  gradually  to  be  employed  even 
where  no  emphasis  was  intended.  Winer  says  it  "almost  uniformly" 
did  so,  and  he  makes  this  remark  in  connexion  with  the  passage  before 
us. — {Gramm.  ut  supra,  p.  112.) 

*  Berigel,  though  not  clear  about  it  when  he  published  his  Gnomon,  and  issued 
his  critical  edition  of  the  tejt,  seems  to  have  subsequently  admitted  it  into  the 
tecond  edition  of  his  German  version.  Since  his  time  this  reading  has  been  estab 
lisbed. 


MR.    BIRKS'    VIEW    OF    THIS.  197 

be  among  those  who  are  "striving  (aywi^effde^  Luke  xiii. 
24)  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,"  he  will  probably  think 
the  glory  of  it  lies  in  something  else  than  a  priority  in 
time.  Certain  it  is,  that  critics,  quite  as  much  alive  to  the 
nicest  shades  of  the  apostle's  Greek  as  Mr.  Birks,  have  not 
detected  "  the  first  resurrection"  here  ;  and  even  Bengel, 
though  he  held  a  sort  of  literal  first  resurrection,  makes  not 
the  slightest  allusion  to  it.  Not  content  with  this  criti- 
cism, and  aware,  as  would  seem,  that  another  interpreta- 
tion of  the  verse  might  be  thought  quite  as  natural,  Mr. 
Birks  tries  to  press  the  context  into  his  favour 

"  This  might  (says  he)  of  itself  be  referred  to  the  momentous 
difference  in  the  nature  of  the  resurrection  which  he  sought.  But 
the  context  points  strongly  to  the  further  meaning  of  a  precedence 
in  point  of  time." 

Here  one  is  apt  to  interrupt  the  author,  and  ask  himself 
if  he  could  have  read  so  often  that  well-known  chapter,  and 
failed  to  perceive  what  is  "  strongly  pointed  to," — one 
resurrection  prior  in  time  to  another.  We  recur  to  the 
chapter,  but  miss  it  still.     Mr.  Birks,  however,  sees 

"  The  blessing  metaphorically  journeying  towards  the  Church. 
Those  who  press  forward  with  earnest  desire  to  attain  it,  meet  the 
heavenly  gift  on  its  way ;  while,  as  for  others,  M  passes  them  by,  and 
leaves  them  to  the  prospect  of  the  widely  different  resurrection  then 
to  follow."— (Pp.  175,  176.) 

This  journey  of  the  first  resurrection  towards  the  Church 
I  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  trace  of  in  a  single  meta- 
phor throughout  the  chapter,  nor  of  any  resurrection  to 
follow  it.*     We  see  the  resurrection  Paul  aimed  at,  repre- 

*  When  the  apostle  speaks  of  his  earnest  desire  to  attain  unto  (/ca- 
ravrav,  to  arrive  at,  to  attain  to,  and  so  to  get  possession  of)  the  resurrec- 
tion, he  does  mdeed  allude  to  the  race  which  we  have  to  "run  that 
we  ma;-  obtain."  But  this  is  not  at  all  what  Mr.  Birks  sees  in  the  pas* 
sage. 

r3 


198   RESURRECTION  OF,  AND  FROM  THE  DEAD. 

sented  as  a  '•  prize" — not  advancing  to  us^  but  held  up  at 
the  goal  as  an  encouragement  to  "  reach  forth  unto"  it ; 
and  we  hear  Paul  telling  us  that  he  pressed  "  towards  the 
mark,"  in  order  that,  when  he  reached  it,  he  might  win  the 
prize.  "  Of  otliers,"  we  find  him  merely  saying  that  "  their 
end  is  destruction  ;"  but  how  that  determines  its  posteri- 
ority to  the  resurrection  of  believers,  or  the  time  of  it  all, 
we  are  at  a  loss  to  conceive. 

(2.)  It  is  further  alleged,  that  the  resurrection  of  believers 
is  termed  a  "  resurrection  from  amongst  the  dead"  («« 
vcKpMv'j^  which  implies  that  others — the  wicked — will  be 
left  in  their  graves  after  they  rise  ;  while  the  general  resur- 
rection is,  by  a  marked  distinction,  termed  the  "  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead"  [vcK^iiv  or  r.  v.^ 

Could  this  distinction  be  critically  established,  it  would 
have  some  weight.  But  it  will  not  bear  an  hour's  exami- 
nation of  the  Greek  Testament.  I  should  not  even  have 
noticed  it,  however  frequently  one  meets  with  it  in  inferior 
productions,  did  not  Mr.  Birks  and  Mr.  H.  Boiiar  (p.  383), 
by  adopting  the  translation  "  from  among  the  dead,"  show 
that  they  are  not  disinclined  to  build  upon  it.  Now  when 
these  brethren  apply  what  they  call  the  resurrection  "  from 
among  the  dead,"  to  the  pre-millennial  resurrection  of  be- 
lievers^ I  presume  they  apply  the  other  phrase — the  re- 
surrection "  of  the  dead"  to  the  post-millennial  resurrection 
of  the  wicked  :  Whereas  we  find  this  phrase,  "  resurrection 
OF  the  dead"  not  only  applied  expressly  to  the  resurrection 
of  both  classes,'^  but  specifically  to  that  resurrection  which 
is  peculiar  to  believers,  f  and  even  to  the  resurrection  of 
Christ  himself  J     I  do  not  find  Mr.  Elliott  committing 

*  Ex.  gr.     Acts  xxiv.  15.  xvii.  32  (compare  v.  31,  and  especially 
rijv  oiKovfiev/iv.) 
t  Ex.  gr.    1  Cor.  xv.  12,  13,  21,  42. 
t  Mark  ix.  9,  10.    Acts  x.  41,  xiii.  34,  xxvi.  23.  (Gr.)    Rom.  i.  4.  (Gr.) 


RIGHTEOUS    AND    WICKED    "  AWAKE    TOGETHER."    199 

himself  to  any  argument  from  these  Grreek  formulas,  nor 
have  the  best  critics  seen  any  indications  of  a  double  re- 
surrection in  them. 

As  to  the  phrase  itself — "  from  the  dead,"  as  it  is  an 
exact  rendering  of  the  original  words,  the  mere  English 
reader  is  as  competent  to  decide  as  the  critic  is,  whethei 
the  supplement  should  be  "  from  (amongst)  the  dead " 
or  "  from  (the  place  of)  the  dead  "  [the  grave],  or  "  from 
(the  state  of)  the  dead"  [S^'Js,  VxtD].  We  have  here  no 
assistance  from  classical  writers,  to  whom  a  resurrection 
was  unknown  ;  and  though  the  phrase  had  been  found,  it 
would  not  at  all  have  determined  in  which  of  the  two 
senses  it  is  used  in  Scripture.  Although,  therefore,  we 
cannot  affirm  that  the  translation,  ''  from  amongst  the 
dead,"  is  critically  inadmissible,  no  more  can  it  be  shown 
to  be  critically  demanded.  In  other  words,  this  phrase 
determines  nothing,  for  even  its  own  sense  must  be  deter- 
mined by  what  we  otherwise  know  to  be  the  Scripture 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 

There  is  no  confirmatory  evidence,  then,  at  all.  We 
have  gone  through  it,  and  found  it  wanting. 

They  are  shut  up,  then,  to  the  direct  passage.  If  the  lite- 
ral resurrection  of  the  righteous  a  thousand  years  before  the 
wicked,  be  revealed  in  this  celebrated  passage,  it  is  not 
only  revealed  here  alone,  but  it  is  revealed  here — as  I  shall 
now  show — in  direct  opposition  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture 
every  where  else. 

The  following  passages  are  so  very  plain,  that  littlo 
comment  on  them  is  needed, 

Dan.  xii.  2 ,  "  And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  tno 
earth  shall  awake ;  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to 

SHAME  AND  EVERLASTING  CONTEMPT." 

Fre-millennialibts  make  much  of  this  passage  in  deter- 


200    RIGHTEOUS    AND    WICKED    "  AWAKE"    TOGETHER. 

mining  the  time  of  the  second  advent.  See,  they  say 
how  plainly  the  prophet  fixes  one  and  the  same  period  for 
these  three  things — "  the  time  of  unparalleled  trouble  " — 
the  "deliverance"  of  the  Jewish  people  (v.  1) — and  the 
"  resurrection  of  the  saints  "  (v.  2).  But  in  their  eagerness 
to  fix  the  time,  they  pass  by  what  is  more  important — 
what,  indeed,  is  fatal  to  their  whole  scheme — the  events 
themselves.  It  is  a  literal  resurrection  of  the  righteous, 
you  say,  that  is  here  predicted.  Yes,  but  a  literal 
resurrection  of  the  wicked  along  with  them.  The  thing 
which  stands  manifestly  out  on  the  face  of  the  pas- 
sage, is  the  simultaneousness  of  this  resurrection  of  both 
classes.  If  the  prophecy  admit  of  any  primary  fulfil- 
ment  before  the  period  of  the  literal  resurrection,  it  must 
be  such  a  fulfilment  as  shall  realise  this  feature  of  it.  If 
not,  and  the  literal  bodily  resurrection  be  the  one  only 
thing  in  the  passage,  still  it  must  be  the  resurrection  of 
both  classes  at  once* 


*  Conceiving  that  the  time  more  immediately  in  view  in  this  passage 
was  that  of  the  ^^deliverance  of  Daniel's  people"  (v.  1),  and  taking  this 
to  mean  their  future  conversion,  I  applied  the  whole,  in  my  former  edi- 
tion, primarily  to  that  blessed  period  when — in  bright  anticipation  of 
"  the  times  of  restitution  of  all  things" — "judgment  shall  be  given  to 
the  saints  of  the  Most  High,"  and  their  enemies  shall  be  exposed  to 
never-ending  shame  and  contempt.  Other  orthodox  men,  as  Venema 
and  Cocceius,  have  done  the  same — only  taking  the  "  deliverance  of 
Daniel's  people"  differently;  some  understanding  it  of  their  deliverance 
under  the  Maccabees  from  the  persecution  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes ; 
others,  of  the  deliverance  of  as  many  of  them  as  were  "found  written 
in  the  book  (of  life)"  at  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  the  erection  of  the 
Gospel  kingdom  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  polity.  But  whether  I  wis 
right  in  supposing  any  such  primary  reference  in  the  words  or  not,  I 
never  for  a  moment  doubted  that  the  only  adequate  fuifi'nient  of  the  pre« 
diction  will  be  at  the  literal  resurrection  of  both  classes  of  men. 

I  am  disposed,  with  Marckius,  to  take  the  word  "  many  "  in  this  pas- 
sage as  equivalent  to  "the  multitude  of."  This  meets  the  difficulty 
which  Cocceius  start*^— that  though  "  the  many"  may  be  equivalent  to 


ALL  IN  THE  GRAVES  COME  FORTH  TOGETHER.  201 

This  verse,  and  the  one  which  follows  it,  have  furnished 
the  language  in  which  the  Kedeemer  himself  announces 
the  final  resurrection : 

John  V.  28,  29 :  "  The  hour  Dan.  xii.  2 : 

is  coming,  in  the  which 

all  that  are  in  the  graves  "  Many  of  them  that  sleep  is 

shall  hear  his  voice,  and  the  dust  of  the  earth 

shall  come  forth ;  shall  awake ; 

they  that  have  done  good  some 

unto  the  resurrection  of  to  everlasting  life, 

life, 

and  they  that  have  done  and  some 

evil 

unto  the  resurrection  of  to  shame  and  everlasting 

damnation."  contempt."  * 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  conceive  a  plainer  statement  of 
the  simuUaneousness  of  the   resurrection    of  both  classes. 

**all,"it  is  not  equivalent  to  "  many  o/"  all," — (See  Marcku,  JEJarpecf. 
Glor.  Fut.  J.  Chr.  Lib.  ii.  cap.  xvii.  13.  Also  De  Moor,  Comm.  xxxiv. 
§  15,  pp.  681,  682.) 

♦  Excellent  here  are  the  words  of  Auqustin:  "Those  (says  he)  who 
in  the  one  place  are  said  to  be  •  in  their  graves,'  are  in  the  other  place 
said  to  'sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth;'  and  as  in  the  one  case  they  are 
said  to  'come  forth,'  so  in  the  other  to  '  awake ;'  as  here,  '  those  that 
have  done  good  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  tliose  who  have  done  evil 
to  the  resurrection  of  damnation,'  so  there,  '  some  to  everlasting  life, 
and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt.'  Let  it  not  be  thought, 
however,  that  there  is  any  diflerence  [between  the  announcement  of 
our  Lord  and  that  of  the  prophet],  because  the  one  says,  '  All  that  are 
in  the  graves,'  while  the  other  says  not  '  all,'  but  '  many  of  them  that 
sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth.'  For  Scripture  sometimes  puts  many  for 
all,  as  when  it  is  said  to  Abraham,  'I  have  made  thee  a  father  of  many 
nations  ;'  while  in  another  place  it  is  said,  '  In  thy  seed  shall  all  nations 
be  blessed.'  "— (De.   '".iv.  Dei.,  Lib.  xx.  cap.  xxiii.  2.) 


202   VIEW  WHICH  PRE-MILLENNIALISTS  TAKE  OP  THIS. 

All  the  commentators  and  theologians,  known  to  the 
Church,  take  this  feature  of  the  passage  to  be  so  manifest 
as  not  to  require  any  illustration.  Yet  even  this  can  be 
got  over,  and  the  presence  of  any  such  feature  in  the  pas- 
sage, is  denied  by  the  pre-millennialists.  Of  course,  they 
must  deny  it,  or  give  up  their  scheme.  But  on  what 
plea  do  they  rest  that  denial  ?  Why,  on  the  fact  that  the 
word  "A<>Mr"  here,  does  not  necessarily  mean  a  period  of 
sixty  minutes,  just  as  the  word  "  day  "  means  a  much  longer 
period  than  twenty  four  hours.  The  same  word  "  hour," 
we  are  reminded,  is  employed  just  before  (v.  25),  to  denote 
the  whole  period  of  the  gospel  dispensation.  Why,  then^ 
may  not  this  "hour"  of  the  resurrection  of  "all  that  are 
in  the  graves  "  denote  a  period  equally  long,  and  embrace 
"  the  resurrection  of  life  "  at  the  beginnings  and  "  the  re- 
surrection of  damnation"  at  the  end  of  it?  * 

That  this  argument  puts  a  very  forced  and  harsh  con- 
struction upon  our  Lord's  words,  must,  I  think,  be  evident 
to  every  unbiased  mind,  even  though  unable  to  see  the 
proper  answer  to  it.  That  answer,  however,  will  readily 
occur  to  any  one  who  considers  how  such  phraseolotry  is 
employed  in  Scripture,  and  in  common  speech.  It  is  quite 
true  that  the  words  "  day  "  and  "  hour  "  in  Scripture,  and 
in  all  language,  are  often  equivalent  to  time  or  period ; 
yet  always  as  meaning  the  definite  or  fixed  period  of  the 
thing  spoken.  For  example,  when  the  apostle  says  ( 1  John 
ii.  12),  "Little  children,  it  is  the  last  hour"  (or  "time,"  as 
we  render  the  word  ^p<^),  he  means  that  this  is  the  last 
dispensation  of  grace  which  the  world  is  to  see.  In  the 
same  sense,  another  apostle  (2  Cor.  vi.  2),  emphatically 
says,  '•  Behold,  noio  is  the  accepted  tivie :  behold,  now  is 
the  day  of  salvation."     So  the  Lord  himself,  in  the  passage 

*  Mr.  Birks  (Lent  Lect.  for  1843),  p.   181.    Mr.  Bickersteth  (Guide 
6th  edition),  pp.  273,  274,  &c.,  &<j. 


NOT    TENABLE.  203 

referred  to,  "  The  hour  is  coming  and  now  is,  when  the 
dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  they  that 
hear  shall  live."  In  all  these  passages,  while  a  long 
period  is  doubtless  intended,  the  unbroken  continuousness 
of  it,  as  the  proper  time  for  obtaining  salvation^  is  essential 
to  the  very  propriety  of  the  language.  Take  that  element 
out  of  it,  and  the  words  "  hour,"  "  day,"  "  now,"  and 
even  ^'  time,"  as  applied  to  the  period  of  grace,  cease  to 
have  any  intelligible  meaning. 

Now,  apply  these  remarks  to  the  resurrection  here  an- 
nounced by  our  Lord.  If  it  were  merely  said  that  "  the 
resurrection  of  life,"  and  '•  the  resurrection  of  damnation," 
are  events  which  it  will  take  a  thousand  years  to  get 
through  with — that,  beginning  at  the  commencement  of 
that  period,  as  the  proper  "  hour"  for  them,  they  will  go 
on  both  together  throughout  the  millennium,  and  that  not 
till  the  end  of  that  period  shall  it  be  true  that  "  all  that  are 
in  their  graves  have  come  forth  :"  if  it  were  merely  said 
that  in  this  sense  the  millennium  will  be  the  resurrection- 
hour^  I  should  readily  admit  that  the  passages  adduced  as 
parallel  are  strictly  so.  For  in  that  case  we  should 
merely  have  a  long  continuous  '•  hour"  of  resurrection^ 
even  as  we  have  confessedly  a  long  continuous  period  of 
saving  grace.  I  would  even  admit,  that  according  to 
Tertulliaii^ s  idea  of  the  millennial  resurrection  of  the 
saints — that  they  will  rise,  '•'some  earlier^  some  later, 
within  the  period  of  the  thousand  years^'^*  there  is  nothing 
positively  against  it  in  our  Lord's  words,  provided  only 
''''the  resurrection  of  damnation^''  were  admitted  to  go  on 
in  the  same  way  throughout  the  currency  of  the  thousand 
years  —  a     thing,    however,    which    no     pre-millennialist 

*  Haec  ratio  regni  terreni,  post  cujus  mille  annos,  intra  quam  aetatein 
concluditur  sanctorum  resurrectio,  prj  meritis  muturius  vel  tardius  ro- 
•urgentium,  &z.—{Adr.  Marc.  iii.  24.' 


304     THE    VOICE    WHICH    SHALL    AWAKE    THE    DEAD. 

ancient  or  modern,  admits,  because  fatal  to  their 
scheme. 

But  the  millennium,  as  now  contended  for,  is  in  no 
sense  one  unbroken  resurrection-hour.  For  neither  is  it 
said,  with  TertuUian,  that  "  the  resurrection  of  life"  is  to 
go  on  throughout  the  whole  of  it,  nor  is  it  admitted  by  any 
of  them,  "  that  the  resurrection  of  damnation"  is  to  go 
along  with  it ;  but  all  the  righteous  are  to  rise  together  be- 
fore the  millennium,  and  the  wicked  are  to  rise  in  a  body 
not  even  at  the  end  of  the  millennium — not  within  the 
millennial  "  hour"  at  all,  therefore, — but  at  the  end  of 
another  period  to  succeed  the  millennium;  a  period  which, 
though  it  be  called  "  a  little  season"  (Rev.  xx.  3),  rela- 
tively to  "  the  thousand  years,"  may,  according  to  that  way 
of  reckoning,  extend  over  two  or  three  hundred  years. 
To  make  the  words  of  our  Lord  agree  with  such  a  theory 
is  surely  to  '"  wrest"  them. 

But  this  is  not  all.  For,  says  our  Lord,  In  this  resur- 
rection-hour, "  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  the 
voice  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  shall  come  forth."  Now  I  think 
it  is  universally  admitted,  that  "  the  voice"  which  is  here 
said  to  raise  the  dead,  is  the  same  with  that  referred  to  by 
the  apostle  to  the  Corinthians  and  Thessalonians : 

"  We  shall  not  all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed,  in  a  moment, 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  ike  last  trump;  for  the  trumpet 
shalt  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised,"  &c. — (1  Cor  xv.  51, 
62.) 

"  The  Lord  himself  shall  descend  with  a  shout,  with  the  votcv  of  the 
archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God :  and  the  dead  in  Christ 
shall  rise  first,"  &c.— (1  Thess.  iv.  16.) 

That  this  "  voice,"  '•  shout,"  "  sound  of  trumpet,"  means 
something  more  than  the  mere  forth-putting  of  the  power 
which  is  to  raise  the  dead — that  there  will  be  an  audible 
and  mighty  soi^/w;?— has  never,  I  believe,  been  questioned. 


THE  LAST  TRUMP PARABLE  OF  TARES.     205 

"Well,  is  this  "  shout"  to  be  prolonged  through  a  thousand 
years?  Is  the  trumpet-blast  to  be  kept  up  all  that  time? 
None,  I  presume,  will  go  this  length  ;  and  if  not,  since 
"the  voice  of  the  Son  of  Man"  is  expressly  said  to  raise 
both  classes — it  must  either  raise  them  both  together, 
which  is  the  natural  sense  of  our  Lord's  words,  or  it  must 
be  uttered  twice  :  it  must  sound,  that  is,  before  the  millen- 
nium, to  raise  the  righteous,  and,  after  a  silence  of  more 
than  a  thousand  years,  it  must  sound  again  to  raise  the 
wicked.  Can  any  thing  more  unnatural  be  forced  upon 
the  simple  and  majestic  words  of  our  Lord  ?  No :  The 
trumpet-sound  is  one.  The  two  allusions  to  it  in  Corin- 
thians and  Thessalonians  connect  it  with  the  resurrection 
of  believers^  because  there  the  exclusive  subject  of  discourse 
was  ''  the  resurrection  of  life ;"  while  our  Lord's  words 
connect  it  with  the  resurrection  of  both  kinds  and  both 
classes.  And  thus  we  have  the  simultaTieous  resurrection 
of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  doubly  brought  out — all 
contrary  interpretations  being  clearly  inadmissible. 

The  united  force,  then,  of  these  two  passages  in  favour 
of  the  simultaneous  resurrection  of  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked,  is  as  strong  as  it  can  be  conceived  to  be,  and  there 
is  nothing  alleged  against  it  that  can  stand  a  moment's 
calm  investigation. 

I  said  that  this  passage  in  Daniel  furnishes  our  Lord 
with  another  of  his  descriptions  of  the  resurrection  besides 
the  one  just  commented  on.  I  refer  to  the  concluding 
words  of  the  parable  of  the  Tares. 

Matt.  xiii.  43  •    "  Then  shall  the    Dan.  xii.  3:    "  And  they  that  be 
righteous  wise 

Shine  forth    as  {sKXanxpovaiv  shall  shine  as  (Xan^ovaiv  &c, 

«()  Ixx.) 

8 


206  THE    GREAT    WHITE    THRONE. 

The  sun  the  brightness    (\aiit^orns) 

of  the  firmament  (com- 
pare Acts  xxvi,  13,  "the 
brightv£ss  of  tlie  sun,  Xaftirpo- 
Trjra  t.  fi^iov^, 

in  the  kingdom  of  their  ....  for  ever  and  ever." 

Father." 

But  I  shall  reserve  the  remarks  I  have  to  make  upon 
this  and  other  testimonies  to  the  simultaneous  resurrection 
of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  till  I  come  to  treat  of  the 
Judgment.  One  passage,  however,  belonging  to  this  class 
I  must  here  take  up,  and  with  this  I  shall  close  the  present 
chapter. 

Rev.  XX.  11-15 :  "  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  him  that 
sat  on  it,  from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled  away ; 
and  there  was  found  no  place  for  them.  And  I  saw  the  dead, 
small  and  great,  stand  before  the  throne;*  and  the  books 
were  opened :  and  another  book  was  opened,  which  is  the 
book  of  life  :  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things 
which  were  written  in  the  books,  according  to  their  works. 
And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  it;  and 
death  and  hades  delivered  up  the  dead  which  were  in 
them:  and  they  were  judged  every  man  according  to  their 
works.  And  death  and  hades  were  cast  into  the  lake  of 
fire.  This  is  the  second  death.  And  whosoever  was  not 
found  written  in  the  book  of  life  was  cast  into  the  lake  of 
fire." 

If  ever  language  expressed  the  doctrine  of  a  simultaneous 
and  universal  resurrection,  surely  we  have  it  here.  Who 
would  ever  imagine  that  all  mankind  were  not  in  this  august 
Bcene,  in  their  resurrection-state,  and  that  himself  would  not 
form  part  of  it  ?     But  pre-millennialists  see  none  but  the 

*  So  the  best  MSS. 


THE    300K    OF    LIFE MR.    DALLAS.  207 

tmcJced  here,  and  even  of  these  only  such  as  have  lived  be- 
fore the  millennium.  The  plea  for  this  is  found  in  what 
one  WQuld  think  proved  the  reverse.  "  The  book  of  life"  is 
admitted  to  be  the  record  of  the  elect ;  and  the  production 
of  it,  we  naturally  conclude,  is  an  evidence  that  the  elect 
are  in  the  scene.  But  the  negative  way  in  which  it  is  in- 
troduced— '-'•  whosoever  was  '^ot  found  written  in  the  book  of  life 
was  cast  into  the  lake  offiref — proves,  it  is  said,  that  none  of 
those  who  are  then  judged  will  have  their  names  in  that 
book, — '*  that  the  dead,  small  and  great,  who  shall  then 
stand  before  the  throne,"  shall  every  one  of  them  be  found 
among  those  "  not  written  in  the  book  of  life,"  and  so  be 
"  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire."  That  any  such  sense  should 
be  put  upon  these  words,  may  seem  incredible.  I  will, 
therefore,  let  the  pre  milleunialists  here  speak  for  them- 
selves. 

"A  number  of  hooks  (says  Mr.  Dallas  on  this  passage)  are 
opened ;  and  this  is  contrasted  with  the  opening  of  a  single  hook ; 
and  while  it  is  stated  that  the  dead  are  judged  every  man  out  of 
those  books^  according  to  their  works,  the  opening  of  the  other 
book  is  for  another  purpose  altogether.  It  is  not  used  to  call  up 
to  judgment  any  individual  whose  name  is  written  therein ;  but  it  is 
employed  simply  as  a  testimony  to  establish  the  perfect  justice 
of  the  sentence  on  the  others ;  to  manifest  that  not  one  of  those 
who  vnll  then  be  judged  had  his  name  written  in  the  book  of  life. 
As  the  solemn  tribunal  is  sitting  for  the  judging  of  '  the  rest  of 
the  dead'*  we  may  suppose  that  there  will  be  a  reference  to  this 
book;   and  as   each  individual  is  accused,  we  may  imagine  the 


•  What  a  liberty  does  Mr.  Dallas  take  here,  in  substituting  for  "  the 
dead,  synall  and  great, ^'  this  restrictive  clause,  "  the  rest  of  the  dead" — a 
clause  occurring  not  only  at  a  distance  of  seven  verses  from  this  passage, 
but  in  a  distinct  vision  (for  the  expression  "  I  saw  "  is  purposely  re- 
peated, V.  4,  and  v.  11,  to  show  this),  and  a  clause  which,  instead  of 
being  equivalent  to  the  one  here  employed,  is  the  strongest  contrast  to 
it  •    And  yet  the  same  thing  is  done  by  Mr.  Birks,  as  we  shall  see. 


208    BOOK  OF  LIFE MR.   LORD MR.   BIRKS DR.   HILL. 

question  to  be  asked,  '  Is  his  name  in  the  book  of  life '?  Is  there 
any  escape  for  him  V  '  No,  it  is  not  found  there,'  will  be  the 
answer.  '  Whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of 
life  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.'  This  is  all  which  can  be 
grounded  upon  the  mention  of  this  book  of  life,  in  this  awful 
passage  of  God's  word.  All  the  dead  whose  names  were  in  the 
book  of  life  will  have  been  raised  a  thousand  years  before  this, 
and  not  one  shall  perish  or  be  again  judged ;  while  all  the  dead 
will  be  raised  afterwards  to  a  judgment  at  wiiich  Twne  s/iall  be 
saved."* 

Mr.  Lord,  in  his  "  Exposition  of  the  Apocalypse,"  en- 
titles this  passage  "  The  Resurrection  and  J'^idgment  of  the 
Unholy  Dead?^ 

"  All  the  u7iholy  dead  (he  says)  of  all  ages,  are  to  h^-  the  subjects  of 
this  resurrection  and  judgment.  Whoever  was  not  found'  written  in 
the  book  of  life  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  And  "hey  only  are  to 
be  its  subjects,  manifestly  from  the  representation  in  th'*  vision  of  the 
souls  of  the  saints,  that  all  the  holy  who  die  anterio'  to  the  mil- 
lennium are  to  be  raised  at  its  commencement,  ani  reign  with 
Christ  throughout  that  period,  and  the  representation  in  the  next 
vision,  that  none  are  during  that  period  to  suffer  the  'nfliction  of 
death. "t 

"  Of  what  nature  (asks  Mr.  Birks)  is  the  resurrection  of  the  rest 
of  the  dead  [that  is,  "  of  the  wicked,''^  Rev.  xx.  5]  1  Th^  prophecy 
gives  a  distinct  reply.  After  the  close  of  the  thousan('  years,  we 
have  this  impressive  description  (Rev.  xx.  11-15),  '  An(?  I  saw  the 
dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God,'  &c.  These  word  ansiver  in 
all  respects  to  the  predicted  resurrection  of  the  rest  of  the  d'ad, — that 
is,  in  the  sense  in  which  he  understands  the  phrase,  of  ih£  wicked 
alone. ''^X 

"  We  would  not  venture  (says  Dr.  Hill)  to  pronounce  it  absolutely 
impossible  that  the  vision  of  the  great  while  throne,  and  'he  books 
opened,  should  be  the  counterpart  of  Daniel's  vision  of  the  .Ancient 

*  "  Second  Coming''  (Lent  Lect.  for  1843),  pp.  217,  218 

t  Expos,  of  Apoc,  pp.  525,  526.     (1847.) 

t  "  Second  Coming"  {utsuprc),  pp.  171,  172. 


BOOK    OF    LIFE DR.    HILL.  209 

of  Diiys  for  the  destruction  of  the  fourth  monarchy  [^that  is,  before 
the  millennium].*  .  .  .  This  interpretation,  too,  would  account  for 
the  mention  in  this  place  of  '  the  book  of  life, ^  which,  if  the  judgment 
is  j305^-millennial,  it  is  not  easy  to  explain  [inasmuch  as,  there  being 
none  then  whose  names  are  in  that  book,  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
use  in  producing  it ;  and  so  the  mention  of  it  in  that  case  is  difficult 
to  be  explained.]  This  interpretation,  however,  ...  is  attended 
witli  difficulties  apparently  insuperable.  .  .  .  Assuming,  then,  that 
the  vision  ...  is  post-millennial,  .  .  .  '  the  dead,  small  and  great, 
that  stand  before  God'  are  '  t/ie  rest  of  the  dead,'  as  distinguished  from 
THE  DEAD  IN  CHRIST  who  posc  at  '  the  first  resurrection.'  Tlieir 
resurrection  ...  is  here  represented  as  succeeding  the  judg- 
ment of  the  devil  and  of  the  nations  of  living  men  whom  he  had 
deceived." 

Now,  seeing  our  author  found  it  "  not  easy  to  explain  the 
mention  of  the  boolc  of  life"  on  this  theory,  and  as  he  is 
not  satisfied  with  the  view  given  of  it  by  other  pre-millen- 
nialists.  it  may  be  right  to  hear  Dr.  Hill's  one.  It  cer- 
tainly is  something  new. 

"  The  account  usually  given  [by  pre-millennialists]  of  the  in- 
troduction of  this  book  is,  that  it  was  to  ascertain  that  none  oi 
the  wicked  Avere  written  in  it.  It  should,  however,  be  remem- 
bered, that  this  book  is  not  described  as  '  the  book  of  life  of  the 
Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,'  nor  yet  as  '  the 
book  of  life  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.' — (Rev.  xiii.  8, 
xvii,  8.)  It  may  then  be  another  book,  indicating  another  kind 
of  salvation,  even  of  Israel  in  the  flesh,  who  are  saved  in  '  the 
beloved  city,'  like  Noah's  family  in  the  ark,  to  be  the  seed  of  a  new 
world."t 


These  specimens  may  suffice,  although  I  regret  that, 


in- 


*  This  extraordinary  theory  is  the  one  which  the  Duke  of  Manchestei 
supports,  which  will  account  for  the  great  difference  on  many  points  be« 
tween  hirn  and  most  of  his  brethren;  though  this  gives  him  the  advan- 
tage over  them  in  enabling  him  to  make  it  a  judgment  of  both  classes. 

t  »  Second  Coming,"  &c.    (Lent  Lect.)  pp.  287-291. 
s2 


210  •*THE    DEAD SMALL    AND    GREAT,*' 

stead  of  some  of  the  above,  I  cannot  give  the  views  of 
authors  to  whom,  possibly,  the  reader  would  pay  more  defer- 
ence.* 

And  now,  will  this  view  of  the  final  resurrection  stand 
for  a  moment  ? 

(1.)  If  '-''the  dead^  small  and  ^rm^,"  whom  John  saw 
"  stand  before  the  throne,"  mean  merely  the  party  styled 
*'  the  rest  of  the  deadP  seven  verses  before,  why  was  not  the 
same  expression  retained,  or  at  least  one  so  equivalent  to 
it  as  to  be  easily  identified  with  it  ?  Such  loopings  of  one 
clause  with  another  at  some  distance  from  it,  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  showing  that  they  mean  the  same  thing, 
and  relate  to  the  same  time,  are  not  only  acknowledged  by 
all  who  have  studied  this  wonderful  book  to  be  a  common 

♦  Strange  to  say,  Mr.  Elliott  has  not,  in  his  voluminous  commentary 
on  the  Apocalypse,  one  word  on  this  passage.  He  gives  the  whole  chap- 
ter in  the  way  he  usually  does  when  he  designs  to  illustrate  it  all.  He 
spends  about  seventy  pages  upon  the  first  part  of  this  chapter,  and  es- 
pecially "  the  first  resurrection."  He  argues  the  Uterality  of  that  resur- 
rection pretty  elaborately,  and  adverts  to  what  seemed  of  most  weight 
against  it.  And  yet  not  even  a  passing  hint  have  I  been  able  to  discover 
on  this  passage,  except  one,  indicating  that  he  referred  it  to  the  end  of 
the  millennium.  How  is  this  7  Had  it  no  important  bearing  on  the 
preceding  scenes,  and  on  his  pre-millennial  theory?  As  the  final  crisis 
of  this  world's  affairs,  did  it  not  invite  special  attention  1  Did  not  the 
remarkable  language  which  it  employs  regarding  the  parties,  the  hooks, 
and  the  issue,  demand  from  a  commentator  so  voluminous  and  minute 
a  formal  investigation  7 

These  questions  I  took  the  liberty  of  putting  to  the  author  in  a  letter 
to  him  in  the  Free  Church  Magazine  (for  Sept.  1846).  That  letter  he 
was  courteous  enough  to  answer  pretty  fully  through  the  same  medium 
(Nov.  1846),  but  to  these  questions  he  made  no  reply. 

In  Mr.  Brooks'  "  Elements  of  Prophetical  Interpretation,"  in  which 
about  a  thousand  passages  of  Scripture  are  commented  on  or  referred  to, 
and  about  forty  pages  spent  expressly  on  "  The  Judgment,^'  I  can  find 
no  explicit  allusion  to  this  passage,  far  less  any  discussion  of  it.  And 
much  the  same  remark  is  applicable  to  Mr.  Blckersteth^ s  "  Guide." 

These  singular  omissions— are  they  purely  accidentaH 


*'  THE    DEAD SMALL    AND    GREAT."  211 

device  in  it,  but  constitute  one  of  the  artistic  charms  of  the 
book.*  But  so  far  is  the  same,  or  any  thing  like  an  equi^ 
valent  expression  to  "  the  rest  of  the  dead,"  from  being  em* 
ployed  here,  that  probably  no  reader  ever  did  imagine  them 
to  mean  the  same  party  without  some  supposed  necessity 
for  doing  so  ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  believe  that  even  then  this 
sense  is  deemed  a  natural  one.  Certain  it  is,  that  all 
readers,  in  all  countries  and  at  all  periods  (with  hardly  an 
exception  worthy  of  notice,)  have  understood  *'  the  dead, 
small  and  great,"  who  were  seen  "  standing  before  the 
Throne,"  as  meaning  the  whole  human  race.  How  easy 
would  it  have  been — by  some  such  device  as  I  have  no- 
ticed— to  prevent  so  great  a  mistake,  if  mistake  it  be  !  Is 
there  not,  then,  the  strongest  reason  to  conclude  that  it  is 
710  mistake  ;  and  that  the  sublime  catholicity  and  trans- 
parent simplicity  of  the  language  actually  used,  were  ex- 
pressly intended  to  convey  what  all  but  every  reader  from 
the  beginning  has  understood  it  to  mean  1  "  If,"  says  Dr. 
Hill,  in  the  lecture  already  quoted,  and  I  admire  his  can- 
dour— "  If  it  were  lawful  to  consider  it,  as  it  has  been  in 
past  ages  considered,  a  description  of  a  simultaneous  and 
universal  judgment  of  all  that  have  ever  lived,  it  would  not 

BE    EASY    TO  FIND  WORDS  MORE  COMPREHENSIVE  THAN    THESE, 

*  The  dead  J  small  and  great,  stand  before  God.''  But  as 
Buch  an  interpretation   is  necessarily  precluded  by  consi- 


'Ex.gr., 

Compare  Chap.  v.  10 

with 

Chap 

.  XX.  4. 

vi.9-11 

xi.  (15—)  17,  18.  xix.  2,  6.  xx.  4 

vii.  3,  4 

xiv.  1. 

vii.  15 

xxi.  3,  4.  XX.  3. 

X.  2,7 

xi.  15,  17.  xix.  6.  xx.  4. 

xi.  2 

xiii.  5 

xi.  3 

xii.  6,  14. 

xiv.  11 

xix.  3,  20. 

ZV.2 

XX.  4. 

212  -^THE    DEAD SMALL    AND    GREAT." 

derations  already  stated,  and  as  the  judgment  here  an- 
nounced must  consequently  be  supplenienlary  to  a  former 
one^^  &c. — (pp.  294,  295,  ut  supra) — that  is  to  say,  Dr. 
Hill  interprets  the  latter  part  of  the  chapter  hy  thQ  fomier ; 
in  other  words,  he  explains  a  passage  about  which  there 
has  been  more  unanimity  in  all  ages  than  on  almost  any 
other  portion  of  Scripture,  by  a  passage  on  which  there 
has  been  more  diversify  than  perhaps  almost  any  portion 
of  God's  word.  Is  this  reasonable?  Yet  it  is  the  me- 
thod taken  by  nearly  all  pre-millennialists  now. 

(2.)  The  emphatic  and  reiterated  way  in  which  "  iht 
dead)'  are  mentioned  in  this  passage,  precludes  any  restric- 
tive sense  of  the  term. 

TirU^  "  The  dead,  small  and  great."  The  contrast  be- 
tween the  phrase  "  small  and  great,"  as  here  used,  and  the 
same  phrase  in  two  other  places  of  this  same  book,  is  very 
striking.  Thus:  (chap.  xi.  18)  "That  thou  shouldest 
give  reward  unto 

"  Them  that  fear  thy  7iame,  small  and  great." 

And  chap.  xix.  5  :  "  Praise  our  God,  all 
"  ye  his  servants,  and 

"  Ye  that  fear  him,  both  small  and  great." 

In  both  these  passages,  the  particular  class  of  persons  in- 
tended is  carefully  pointed  out.  I  do  not  refer  to  the  words 
"  small  and  great,"  as  expressive  of  universality.  I  refer 
simply  to  the  fact,  that  in  those  two  places  we  are  expressly 
told  the  party  to  whom  the  "  small  and  great"  belonged.* 
Now,  in  the  passage  before  us,  the  only  party  to  whom 
"  the  small  and  great"  belong — as  far  as  appears — is  "  the 
dead."  Are  we  not  irresistibly  led,  then,  to  conclude  that 
the   meaning  intended   is,  the  dead — universally,  or  at 

least  INDISCRIMINATELY  ? 

*  So,  substantially,  in  the  only  other  passages  where  the  phrase  occura 
in  tills  book— xiii.  16,  xix.  18. 


DEAD,  SMALL  IND  GREAT THE  "OTHER  BOOK."  213 

Reserving  for  a  moment  the  last  clause  of  the  verse— 
"  And  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were 
written  in  the  books,  according  to  their  works  " — which,  as 
I  shall  immediately  show,  fixes  the  resurrection  to  be  of 
both  classes^ 

Observe  the  next  clause  :  "  And  the  sea,  gave  up  the  dead 
which  were  in  it " — that  is,  say  the  pre-millennialists,  the 
wicked  dead  that  are  in  it.  Is  not  this  excessively  unna- 
tural ? 

Farther,  it  is  added,  "  And  death  and  hades  delivered  up 
the  dead  which  were  in  them."  For  what  purpose  this  mi- 
nute specification,  if  only  one  class  of  mortal  men  be  meant  ? 
I  do  not  see  what  answer  can  be  given  to  this  question  : 
Whereas,  if  it  mean  that  Mortality  itself  shall  render  up 
its  victims — in  the  most  comprehensive  sense  of  that  ex- 
pression— the  language  is  sublimely  appropriate. 

One  other  clause  remains :  "  And  death  and  hades  were 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire:  this  is  the  second  death."  The 
sense  of  this  statement  cannot,  I  conceive,  be  better  ex- 
pressed than  in  the  words  of  the  poet — 

"And  dkath  itself  shall  die." 

Taking  all  the  clauses  together,  then,  they  seem  altogether 
worthy  of  the  subject,  supposing  them  to  describe  a  final, 
general  resurrection  of  both  classes  of  mankind  :  Any  nar- 
rower interpretation,  as  it  has  scarcely  ever  been  thought 
of,  so  it  is  unnatural  in  the  extreme. 

(3.)  What  is  said  in  this  passage  about  "  the  books,''^  and 
that  *'  other  book,''^  fixes,  beyond  reasonable  doubt,  the  sense 
of  the  whole  passage.  It  is  universally  agreed  that  the 
"  opening  of  the  books  "  here  is  an  allusion  to  the  practice 
of  human  tribunals — 

"  To  show,"  as  Durham  expresses  it,  "  that  the  judgment  shall  be 
AS  accurate  and  particular  in  the  trial,  and  just  in  the  close,  as  if  all 


214  THE    BOOK    OF    LIFE. 

were  registrated  and  put  on  record :  Nothing  shall  be  missed  or  mis. 
taken  in  its  circumstances,  but  things  shall  be  so  just  in  themselves, 
and  so  manifested  and  put  beyond  all  doubt  to  others,  as  if  an  exact 
register  of  them  had  been  keeped,  and  now  published.  .  ,  .  These 
books  are  '  opened'  in  comparison  of  what  they  were  before,  viz. 
scaled,  neither  was  it  known  what  was  in  them.  Now  .  .  .  '  noth- 
ing is  hid  which  shall  not  be  discovered,  even  as  to  others,  before 
men  and  angels.'  "* 

Now,  as  no  previous  judgment,  at  all  resembling  this,  is 
mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse,  is  it  not  most  unnatural  to 
view  this  as  a  mere  supplement  to  some  other  judgment — a 
judgment  of  the  righteous  ?  And  is  it  not  altogether  ex- 
travagant to  consider  these  '•  books,"  now  for  the  first 
time  '•  opened,"  in  the  august  language  of  this  scene,  to  be  a 
record  of  nothing  but  the  materials  for  condemnation? 
As  to  the  ''  Book  of  Life,"  there  is  happily  a  very 
general  agreement  about  the  meaning  of  it.  Setting 
aside  Augustin's  strange  notion,  that  it  means  the 
book  of  every  one's  life  or  history.t  and  the  notion  equally 
wide  of  the  mark,  noticed  at  p.  209,  it  is  all  but  unani- 
mously understood  to  denote  the  book  of  God^s  elect ;  and 
in  this  sense  it  is  undoubtedly  employed  four  times  in  this 
same  book,  besides  twice  here.  J  As  such,  it  will  be  used 
not  as  "  the  books  "  will  be — as  materials  for  judgment — 
but  as  the  counterpart  of  the  decisions  pronounced  upon  the 
testimo?iy  of  those  ^^  books." 


*  Comment,  on  Rev.  ad  loc. 

Per  libellos — says  Grotius — intellige  acta  litis.  Per  acta  autem  litis 
hominum  cogitata,  dicta,  facta. — {Aiinott.  ad  Apoc.) 

t  De.  Civ.  Dei,  Lib.  xx.  cap.  14. 

t  In  ch,  iii.  5.  xiii.  8.  xxi.  7.  and  xxii.  19. 

Marck,  whose  observations  on  "  the  book  of  life"  here  are  judicious- 
some  of  them  even  touching— refers  as  parallels  to  Phil.  iv.  3  ;  Heb.  xii 
23;  Luke  x.  20 ;  Ps.  Ixix.  29 ;  Dan.  xii.  1  ;  Ezek.  xiii.  9;  Isa.  iv.  3,  &c. 
He  should  have  added  Exod.  xxxii.  32. 


THE    BOOK    OF    LIFE.  215 

"  God  does  not  refer  to  that  book" — says  Augustin,  rig:hting  him- 
self apparently  from  the  sTi;)  \\hich  he  had  made  in  the  previous 
chapter,  and  giving  the  sub.^tanco  at  least  of  the  idea — "  God  does 
not  refer  to  that  book  lest  he  should  en'  through  forgetfulness ;  but 
it  denotes  the  predestination  of  those  to  whom  is  to  be  given  eternal 
life.  Nor  is  it  that  God  is  ignorant  who  these  are,  and  refers  to  this 
book  that  they  may  know.  But  rather,  His  own  infallible  prescience 
of  them  is  the  book  of  life,  in  which  they  are  written,  that  is,  eter- 
nally foreknown."* 

"  This,"  says  Marck,  "  is  another  book,  chiefly  because  it  has  re- 
gard not  to  the  fictions  [of  every  man's  life],  nor  to  the  principles  [on 
which  these  are  to  be  judged  of],  which  is  the  case  with  those  called 
'  the  books,'  but  to  the  persons  to  be  judged,"f 

As  "  the  book  of  Zj/e,'*  it  is  a  catalogue  of  the  names  of 
all  that  are  destined  lo  life  everlasting ;  as  "  the  LamVs 
book  of  life"  (chap  xxi.  27),  or  "the  book  of  life  of  the 
Lamb  slain "  (chap,  xiii  8),  it  proclaims  the  meritorious 
ground  on  which  alone  that  life  is  bestowed :  and  as 
having  the  "  names  "  of  all  that  are  in  it  "  written  from  the 
foundation  of  the  workV  (chap.  xvii.  8,  xiii.  8),  it  teaches 
the  origin  of  the  choice  of  each  and  all  of  them,  in  the 
everlasting  electing  love  of  God.  When  those  on  the 
right  hand  find  their  names  all  there  without  one  excep- 
tion, it  will  tell  them  in  a  language  not  to  be  mistaken 
whence  came  that  fiiith  and  holiness  which  ^'- the  books" 
evidenced  them  to  possess,  and  they  will  say,  Now  we 
k?iow  that  "  God  had  from  the  beginning  chosen  us  to 
salvation  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of 
the  truth ;"  for  while  the  "  Sanctification"  and  the  "  beli-pf 
of  the  truth  "  have  been  evinced  by  "  the  books,"  lo,  the 
*^ choice  "  of  us  from  everlasting,  '•  through"  these,  is  found 


*  De  Civ.  Dei,  Lib.  iii.  cap.  xv, 

t  Hie  liber — says  Gbotius — est  velut  matricula  civium  regni  ccElestisk 


216  THE    BOOK    OF    LIFE SUMMARY. 

in  that  "other  book,  the  book  of  life!"  "Who,  then, 
hath  made  us  to  differ,  and  what  have  we  that  we  have 
not  received  ?  "  Thus  thej  will  for  ever  feel  that  they  are 
mere  '•  vessels  of  mercy  before  prepared  unto  glory.'*  But, 
when  those  on  the  left  hand  find  not  one  of  their  names  in 
the  book  of  life,  they  will  discern  therein  God's  eternal 
purpose,  that  they  should  be  left  to  show  what  a  fallen 
state  is,  what  a  state  of  wilful  and  wicked,  persevering  and 
determined,  rebellion  against  the  God  of  heaven  is — ■ 
whether  in  the  authority  of  his  law  which  it  will  not  obey, 
or  in  the  grace  of  his  Gospel  which  it  refuses  to  receive  ; 
and  that  what  God  might  righteously  have  done  with  all, 
he  resolved  to  do  with  them,  as  "vessels  of  wrath  fitted 
for  destruction  " — to  glorify  his  justice  in  their  "  everlasting 
destruction  from  his  presence  and  from  the  glory  of  his 
power."  Thus,  this  "  book  of  life,"  while  it  will  show  that 
"  known  unto  God  were  all  his  works  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world,"  will  at  the  same  time  "  stop  every  mouth  " 
— the  mouths  of  the  righteous  from  ever  boasting,  the 
mouths  of  the  wicked  from  ever  complaining. 

If  this  be  a  correct  view  of  the  object  for  which  the 
book  of  life  is  produced  at  the  last  judgment,  it  of  course 
takes  away  even  the  shadow  of  a  plea  for  limiting  it  to 
the  wicked ;  though  I  am  far  from  admitting  that  there  is 
so  much  as  that.  As  for  the  negative  way  in  which  the 
book  of  life  is  mentioned  in  the  concluding  words  of  the 
passage — "  Whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  this  book 
of  life  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  " — the  chief  difficulty 
is  to  persuade  one's  self  that  those  who  urge  it  place  any  re- 
liance on  it  themselves.* 

On  the  whole,  I  hesitate  not  to  say  of  this  passage — and 
of  the  testimony  which  it  bears  to   the  simulla/ieous  pre 


*  Compare  Matt.  xi.  6. 


SUMMARY.  217 

sentation  in  a  resurrection-state^  of  the  whole  human  roxe 
before  the  great  white  throne — what  Augustin  says  of  the 
two  followiug  chapters,  that  "  if  we  deem  this  obscure,  we 
ought  not  to  seek  or  find  any  thing  clear  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures."* — (De  Civ.  Dei.  Lib.  xx.  cap.  xvii.) 

Other  irrefragable  testimonies  to  the  same  truth  will 
present  themselves  when  we  come  to  the  subject  of  the 
Judgment. 

*  Even  pre-millennialists  themselves,  when  their  system  does  not  re- 
quire them  to  limit  the  subjects  of  the  last  judgment,  feel  all  the  force 
of  our  reasonings  upon  it.  Mr.  Burgh^  for  example,  thus  writes  on  this 
subject : — 

"  If  all  the  saved  had  been  raised  previously  [to  the  final  resurrection], 
and  '  the  dead,  small  and  great ' — including  all  the  dead  whom  '  the  sea' 
and  '  death  and  hades '  deliver  up — be  only  the  lost,  wherefore  open  the 
book  of  life  to  judge  them  7  And  if  it  be  said,  Merely  to  show  that  none 
of  them  were  entered  there,  I  think  verse  15  leads  to  a  different  conclu- 
sion— '  And  whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  was  cast 
into  the  lake  of  fire;'  which  surely  does  not  imply  that  the  whole  num- 
ber of  those  so  judged  were  cast  into  the  lake,  and  none  of  them  found 
written  in  the  book."  * 

Again :  "The  whole  [twentieth  chapter  of  Revelation]  closes  with  the 
scene  of  the  Inst  and  general  judgment,  where  again  I  think  we  have 
proof—both  from  '  tlie  dead,  small  arid  great,  standing  before  God '  to 
receive  judgment,  and  from  'the  book  of  life'  being  one  of  the  books 
then  opened — that  the  award  of  the  whole  redeemed  Church  had  not  been 
decided  so  long  before  as  the  commencement  of  the  m,illenmum."  t 

*  Lect.  on  Sec.  Adv.,  No.  VII.,  "  First  Resurrection,"  &c.,  pp.  273,  274.  Third 
Edit. 

tLecF.  on  Book  of  Rev.,  No.  XXII.  "The  Millennium,"  p.  367.  Fourth 
Edit. 


CHAPTER  X. 

iAME    SUBJECT    CONTINUED  I    THE    MILLENNIAL    RESURREC- 
TION  LITERAL    OR    FIGURATIVE? 

We  have  seen  that,  by  the  confession  of  candid  pre-mil- 
lennialists  themselves,  there  is  no  direct  announcement  of 
the  literal  resurrection  of  the  righteous  a  thousand  years 
before  the  wicked — if  it  be  not  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of 
the  Revelation  :  We  have  seen  that  even  confirmatory  evi- 
dence of  it  there  is  none — all  mention  of  it.  all  allusion  to 
it,  elsewhere  being  sought  in  vain :  And  finally,  we  have 
seen  that  the  very  contrary  of  this — the  simultaneous  pre- 
sentation of  the  whole  human  race,  in  a  resurrection-state, 
before  the  great  white  throne — is  unambiguously  an- 
nounced in  Scripture.  At  the  same  time,  the  judgment  of 
distinguished  men  and  acute  interpreters  in  favour  of  a 
literal  resurrection  in  this  passage,  and  the  confidence  with 
Winch  that  sense  of  it  is  continually  pressed  in  the  present 
controversy,  demand  a  full  and  candid  investigation  of  it. 
This  I  shall  now  endeavour  to  give  it.  The  passage  is  as 
follows : — 

Rev.  XX.  4-6:  "And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them, 
and  judgment  was  given  unto  them:  and  I  saw  the  souls 
of  them  that  were  beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and 
for  the  word  of  God,  and  such  as  (otrivcj)  had  not  wor- 
shipped the  beast,  neither  his  image,  neither  had  received 
his  mark  upon  their  foreheads,  or  in  their  hands ;  and  thej 


MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION.  219 

lived  and  ?eigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years.  [But]  The 
rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand  years  were 
finished.  This  is  the  first  resurrection.  Blessed  and  holy  is 
he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection:  on  such  the 
second  death  hath  no  power,  but  they  shall  be  priests  of 
God  and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thousand 
years." 

It  would  take  whole  pages  to  enumerate  the  treatises 
that  have  been  written  upon  this  celebrated  passage,  and 
nearly  as  much  space  to  mention  the  opinions  and  specula 
tions  to  which  it  has  given  rise.  The  one  question,  how- 
ever, of  any  great  importance — whether  the  resurrection 
here  predicted  is  to  be  taken  in  a  literal  or  figurative  sense 
— may  be  brought  within  moderate  compass,  and  deter- 
mined, I  conceive,  by  ordinary  Christian  intelligence. 

Before  entering,  however,  into  the  details  of  a  passage 
like  this,  it  is  natural  to  look  at  the  presu?nj)tions  and  pro- 
babilitie^  of  the  case,  in  so  far  as  they  lie  on  the  surface, 
or  suggest  themselves  readily  to  the  mind.  We  are  not,  of 
course,  to  be  swayed  by  these  in  opposition  to  direct  and 
explicit  evidence.  But  in  all  questions  of  such  a  nature  as 
this,  it  is  usual  to  take  a  broad  view  of  the  case  first,  and 
then  to  inquire  how  far  our  general  conclusions  are  or  are 
not  borne  out  by  closer  and  more  detailed  investigation. 

If  the  question  then  be. 

Was  this  celebrated  passage  designed  to  announce  a  lite- 
ral   AND    GENERAL    RESURRECTION    OF    TEIE    SAINTS  ? 

The  following  appear  to  me  to  be  strong  prima  facie 

PRESUMPTIONS    AGAINST    IT. 

First  It  is  very  strange  that  the  resurrection  of  the 
righteous  a  thousand  years  before  the  wicked,  if  it  be  a 
revealed  truth,  should  be  directly  and  explicitly  announced 
in  one  passage  only.     We  are  not,  indeed,  to  set  limits  to 


220  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

God  ;  but,  judging  of  Him  by  his  way  of  revealing  otbel 
truths  of  equal  importance  and  of  kindred  nature,  we  may 
safely  say,  that  it  is  not  according  to  his  usual  method. 
Still,  there  might  be  reasons  for  a  deviation  in  this  case  ; 
and  if  we  found,  scattered  up  and  down  the  Scripture,  hints 
of  a  prior  resurrection — hints  which,  though  not  at  all  ex- 
plicit, were  yet  sufficient  to  suggest  it,  or  at  least  were  best 
explained  on  that  theory,  and  thought  by  impartial  expo- 
sitors substantially  to  express  it — this  might  go  far  to  neu- 
tralise the  presumption  against  it,  arising  from  its  being 
nowhere  directly  announced,  if  not  here.  But  it  is  not  so. 
Though  the  resurrection  be  a  theme  on  which  the  apostles  de- 
lighted to  expatiate — though  the  nature  of  it,  the  grounds  of 
it,  and  its  connexion  in  point  of  time  with  the  coming  of  Christ 
be  abundantly  dwelt  on — and  though  in  such  passages  the 
prior  resurrection,  if  a  true  doctrine,  could  hardly  miss  to 
have  dropped  from  the  apostolic  pen — it  is  altogether  want- 
ing as  we  have  seen,  and  what  are  alleged  to  be  hints  of 
this  doctrine  are  not  so,  nor  have  ever  been  so  regarded  by 
critics  and  expositors.  This,  I  think,  makes  the  presump- 
tion against  its  being  found  here  very  strong.  But  if  to 
this  be  added  all  that  points  in  an  opposite  direction — what 
the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  Church  have  held  to  be 
direct,  explicit,  and  indubitable  announcements  of  a  simul- 
taneous resurrection  of  the  whole  human  race — the  pre- 
sumption that  a  general  resurrection  of  the  righteous  a 
thousand  years  before  the  wicked,  is  not  the  true  sense  of 
this  prophecy,  is  greatly  increased. 

Second^  If  thi?  was  to  be  the  chosen  place  for  announcing 
such  a  prior  resurrection,  it  is  surely  reasonable  to  expect 
that  a  clear  and  unambiguous  revelation  of  it  would  be 
made.  "  It  was  enough,"  says  Mr.  Birks,  "  that  one  clear 
statement  should  be  given  before  the  inspired  volume  was 
closed,  which  might  serve  for  a  key  to  all  the  other  pro- 


PRESUMPTIONS  AGAINST  THE   LITERAL  SENSE.        221 

pi  ecies,  and  brigbten  into  fuller  and  fuller  evidence  when 
the  time  of  the  fulfilment  should  be  drawing  near." — (Pp. 
158,  159,  ut  supra.)  This  is  a  frank  admission,  that  if 
"  one  statement"  was  to  be  held  "  enough,"  it  would  re- 
quire to  be  a  "  clear  "  one.  But  can  this  be  modestly  said 
in  the  face  of  the  diversity  that  prevails  upon  it  ?  As  to 
those  who  take  the  prophecy  Jigurativeli/,  it  may  be  said 
that  they  differ  among  themselves,  owing  to  the  erro- 
neous figurative  sense  which  they  all  put  upon  it.  How 
far  they  do  differ,  the  reader  who  is  interested  in  that  point 
may  see  in  the  note  below.*      But  do  all  those  who  take 

♦  Mr.  Elliott  professes  to  give  "  the  most  famous  solutions  of  the  mil- 
lennia, prophecy  that  have  been  offered  in  the  Christian  Church,  from 
the  time  of  the  publication  of  the  Apocalypse  down  to  the  time  now 
present ;"  but  his  statement  is  by  no  means  a  fair  one.  It  leaves  upon 
his  reader's  mind  an  impression  not  consistent  with  fact  One  would 
think  from  his  summary  of  opinions,  that  among  the  literalists  there 
was  no  difference,  and  amongst  the  figuratists  no  agreement  The  literal 
sense  of  this  prophecy  is  with  him  one  unbroken,  harmonious  solution 
of  it,  and  the  first  in  order ;  while  the  figurative  sense  of  it  is  split  up  into 
three— not  three  modifications  merely,  or  particular  applications,  of  one 
figurative  sense,  but  three  "  most  famous  solutions,"  separate  and  dis- 
tinct To  be  just,  he  should  have  told  his  readers  that  the  literal  inter- 
pretation must  also  be  split  up  into  three  solutions;  some,  as  we  shall 
see  above,  limiting  the  first  resurrection  to  the  martyrs  (as  Burgh)  ; 
others  including,  along  with  these,  the  most  eminent  confessors  of  the 
truth  in  every  age  (as  Bishop  Newton)  ;  while  a  third  and  the  largest 
class  extend  the  millennial  resurrection  to  all  the  baints.  There  might 
have  been  no  occasion  to  go  into  this  detail ;  but  if  done  on  the  one  side, 
justice  demanded  its  being  done  also  on  the  other, — if  omitted  in  the 
one  case,  in  fairness  it  should  have  been  so  in  the  other.  On  this  being 
pointed  out  to  him,  his  reply  was  singular.  "  My  statement  (said  he) 
was  professedly  a  statement  of  the  literal  view  as  held  by  the  early 
fathers.  .  .  .  and  I  must  altogether  decline  mixing  up  the  names  of 
Mede,  Ncwton,  with  the  rest.  1  should  consider  the  mention  of  them 
exceedingly  out  of  place."  But  why  so  7  On  the  figurative  side,  Mr. 
Elliott  is  far  from  stopping  at  "  the  early  fathers."  Any  modification 
of  the  figurative  sense — no  matter  how  trivial,  nor  how  late  introduced 
— is  "in  place,"  as  if  to  swell  the  apparent  diversity  among  those  who 
t2 


222  MILLENNIAL  RESURRECTION 

the  prophecy  literally  interpret  it  alike  ?  By  no  means. 
It  is  true  that  the  early  chiliasts  seem  to  have  thought  thai 
all  the  saints  would,  sooner  or  later,  partake  of  the  millen- 
nial resurrection  and  reign.  But  every  one  who  has  read 
their  writings  will  admit,  that  they  show  a  strong  tendency 
to  apply  it  chiefly  to  the  martyrs.  Nor  can  I  see  how 
multitudes  could  have  been  inflamed,  as  they  are  said  to 
have  been,  with  a  passion  for  martyrdom,  in  hope  of  thereby 

take  the  prophecy  figuratively.  On  this  side,  Grotius  and  Hammond ; 
Whitby,  Vitringay  and  F'ahej' ;  even  the  "  moditieations"  of  Afr.  Gipps 
and  Professor  Bush — are  all  "in  place."  But  on  the  literal  side,  the 
mention  of  any  modification  or  subdivision  is  held  to  be  "  exceedingly 
out  of  place."  I  cannot  understand  this  partiality,  Mr.  Elliott  pleads 
"  the  magnitude  of  the  difference  between  those  whom  I  would  class  to- 
gether," in  justification  of  his  making  three  classes  of  them  instead  of 
one.  By  all  means,  provided  only  it  be  done  upon  both  sides  alike,  that 
the  reader  may  be  able  to  judge  for  himself  on  which  of  the  two  sides 
the  greatest  "magnitude  of  difference"  exists.  Every  one's  opinion  on 
such  a  point  is  apt  to  be  influenced  by  his  general  views.  With  regard 
to  the  figurative  view  of  the  prophecy,  the  difference  is  just  this  :  Some 
take  the  predicted  resuscitation  chiefly  in  a  spiritual  light,  and  so  see  in 
it  a  glorious  era  of  "  life  from  the  dead"  in  the  sense  of  vital  religion  ; 
while  others  take  it  to  relate  chiefly  to  the  public  aspects  of  the  Church, 
and  so  see  in  it  the  Church's  elevation  out  of  a  depressed,  persecuted, 
and  comparatively  powerless  condition,  into  a  state  of  freedom,  honour, 
influence,  and  whatever  of  an  external  nature  is  fitted  to  aid  the  develop- 
ment of  its  spiritual  character,  and  make  it,  under  its  living  Head, 
the  great  regenerator  of  society,  and  to  the  world  at  large  "  life  from  the 
dead."  Of  course,  these  varying  aspects  of  one  and  the  same  new  lif'e^ 
imparted  to  the  Church,  will  suggest  different  periods  for  the  fulfilment 
of  the  prophecy  :  some  dating  it,  accordingly,  from  the  commencement 
of  the  Christian  era,  and  identifying  it  with  the  whole  dispensation  of 
the  Spirit ;  others  identifying  it  with  one  or  other  of  the  pubUc  interpo- 
sitions on  the  Church's  behalf  that  have  issued,  cr  will  yet  issue,  in 
her  elevation  to  a  freedom  and  power  unknown  before— such  as  the  fall 
of  Judaism  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  ;  of  Paganism  at  the  con- 
version of  Constantino;  and  of  Popery  and  its  ally.  Infidelity,  in  every 
form,  yet  to  come.  It  would  be  out  of  place,  in  this  note,  to  dwell  on 
the  unity  of  idea  that  pervades  these  different  conceptions  of  the  pro- 
phecy. Suffice  it  to  say,  that,  for  myself,  I  take  them  to  be  all  constitu- 
ent elements  of  one  predicted  enlargement  of  the  Church. 


PRESUMPTIONS  AGAINST  THE  LITERAL  SENSE.       223 

having  "  part  in  the  first  resurrection,"  if  that  resurrection 
was  believed  to  be  the  portion,  not  of  martyrs  only,  but  of 
all  believers*  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  man  who  may  be 
called  the  father  of  the  modern  form  of  pre  millennialism, 
and  whose  minute  study  of  this  particular  prophecy  en- 
titles him  surely  to  be  heard  as  to  the  parties  intended  in 
the  prediction — the  subjects  of  the  millennial  resurrection — 
Joseph  Mede,  says  :  "  The  rising  of  the  martyrs  is  that 
which  is  called  the  first  resurrection,  being,  as  it  seems,  a 
prerogative  to  their  sufferings  above  the  rest  of  the  dead." 
And  so  far  was  he  from  finding  all  the  saints  in  this  vision, 
that  it  was  with  great  difficulty  he  persuaded  himself  that 
any  more  than  the  "  martyrs."  and  "  confessors  equipollent 
to  martyrs,"  would  rise  before  the  last  resurrection  ;  and 
all  the  length  he  ever  came  was  to  be  "  inclined  on  the 
whole  to  the  opinion,  that  all  the  righteous  will  rise  during 
the  course  of  the  millennial  kingdom."! 

Bishop  Newton  calls  this  first  resurrection  "  a  peculiar 
prerogative  of  the  martyrs  and  confessors  above  the  rest  of 
mankind."  But  afterwards  "  the  confessors"  drop  out,  as 
when  he  says- — 

♦  The  following  words  of  Mgde  here  are  worthy  of  notice  :  "  I  will 
say  something  more,  namely,  that  this  opinion  of  the  '  first  resurrection' 
was  the  true  ground  and  mother  of  prayers  for  the  dead,  so  anciently  re- 
ceived in  the  Church,  which  were  then  conceived  after  this  manner — 
Ut  "partem  haberent  in  resurrection e  prima  (that  they  might  have  part  in 
the  first  resurrection).  See  Tertullian,  who  first  mentions  them.  The 
reason  was,  because  this  having  part  in  the  first  resurrection  was  not  to 
be  common  to  all,  but  to  be  a  privilege  of  some,  natnely,  of  martyrs,  and 
confessors  equipollent  to  them,  if  God  would  ?o  accept  them.  Moreover, 
the  belief  of  this  prerogative  of  martyrs,  in  re^urrectione  primct,  was  that 
which  made  the  Christians  of  those  times  so  joyously  desirous  of  mar- 
tyrdom.* -{Works,  p.  771). 

t  Alsttd,  whose  book.  "  De  mille  annis  Apocalypt.'^  was  published  be 
fore  any  of  Mede's  works  appeared,  restricted  the  millennial  resurrection 
to  the  martyrs,  I  believe ;  and  Durham,  who  refers  to  his  work,  report! 
the  same  •  but  not  being  able  to  procure  it,  I  cannot  speak  positively. 


224  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION- - 

"  Of  all  the  prophets,  St.  John  is  the  only  one  -who  hath  declared 
particularly,  and  in  exi)ress  terms,  that  ike  martyrs  shall  rise  to  par- 
take of  the  felicities  of  this  kingdom." 

And  again — 

"  The  learned  Dodwell  hath  justly  observed,  that  this  belief  [in  the 
literal  first  resurrection]  was  one  principal  cause  of  the  fortitude  of 
the  primitive  Christians ;  they  even  coveted  martyrdom,  in  hopes  of 
being  partakers  of  the  privileges  and  glories  of  tlie  martyrs  in  the 
first  resurrection."* 

In  a  word,  and  coming  down  to  our  own  day,  Mr.  Burgh 
says — 

"  On  the  persons  who  shall  partake  of  the  first  resurrection,  I  con- 
fess 1  find  it  difficult  to  agree  with  the  modern  expectants  of  the 
Lord's  advent.f  Their  opinion,  generally  speaking,  is  that  all 
the  redeemed  from  the  beginning  shall  then  rise  to  reign  with 
Christ ;  while  I  feel  constrained  rather  to  acquiesce  in  an  opinion 
known  to  have  been  generally  held  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity, 
that  'the  first  resurrection'  is  not  general,  even  as  it  respects  the 
saved  in  this  dispensation,  but  limited  to  certain  from  among  it,  pos- 
sessing a  qualification  to  be  noticed  presently. :|:     There  are  two 

*  Dissertations  on  the  Prophecies  (on  Rev.  xx.) 

t  Thus  do  many  pre-millenniali*ts  monopolise  to  themselves  the  ex- 
pectation of  the  Redeemer's  coming. 

X  I  have  not  been  able  to  verify  this  statement  by  reference  to  the 
early  chiliastic  fathers.  Probably  Mr.  Burgh  gives  as  their  actual  belief 
the  impression  merely  which  their  language  conveys  as  a  whole.  But 
this  is  hardly  fair,  in  opposition  to  pretty  plain  statements  extending  the 
first  resurrection  to  believers  generally,  which  may  be  adduced,  for  ex- 
ample, from  Justin  Martyr,  Irenceus,  and  Tertullian — high  authority 
certainly  on  this  point.  The  truth  I  believe  to  be  this,  that  looking  at 
the  passage  (Rev.  xx.)  in  the  light  of  the  persecutions  and  martyrdoms 
of  their  own  time,  they  took  it  in  its  natural  import  as  pointing  to  that 
very  state  of  things;  but  when  they  were  expressing  their  faith  and  hope 
on  the  subject  more  generally,  the  restriction  of  the  passage  to  the  mar- 
tyrs seemed  harsh,  and  thus  they  were  led  to  extend  it  to  believers  gene- 
rally. Be  this  however  as  it  may,  I  have  tried  in  the  statement  given 
above  of  what  the  early  chiliasts  held,  to  set  down  the  result  of  my  own 
examination  of  their  ^Titinga. 


PRESUMPTIONS  AGAINST  THE   LITERAL  SENSE.       225 

distinct  arguments  by  which  this  may  be  decided;  one  from  the 
nature  and  objects  of  the  millennial  reign,  the  other  from  the  ex- 
press language  of  Scripture." 

On  the  second  of  these  two  arguments,  to  prove  the 
millennial  resurrection  a  limited  one,  he  says :  "  I  do  think 
Rev.  XX.  must  be  admitted  to  be  conclusive."  He  then 
comments  upon  it,  to  show  that  the  parties  of  saints  there 
specified  exclude  the  notion  of  their  embracing  all  saints.* 

In  his  "  Lectures  on  the  Revelation,"  a  later  work  than 
the  former,  he  says — 

"  I  have  revised  with  care  the  opinion  I  gave  m  the  Lectures 
above  referred  to  [on  the  Second  Advent],  that  the  First  Re- 
surrection is  limited  to  a  portion  of  the  redeemed  Church.  ...  I  have 
reconsidered  this  opinion,  the  more  so  as  I  learned  that  there 
were  not  a  few  who  objected  to  it,  who  in  all  the  other  matters 
there  discussed  agreed  with  me  fully ;  yet  I  confess  the  result 
has  been  to  confirm  me  more  in  it.  .  .  .  My  strongest  argument 
— next  to  the  condition  so  clearly  and  frequently  expressed,  '  If 
we  shall  suffer,  we  should  also  reign  with  hira'f — was  the  passage 
in  the  chapter  before  us  (Rev.  xx.  4,  5),  which  is  also  the  clear- 
est and  strongest  passage  in  the  Scripture  on  the  First  Resurrec- 
tion.":}: 

I  might  have  added  that  Bengel,  early  in  the  last  cen- 
tury, and  Moses  Stuart  in  our  own  day,  take  the  same  re- 
stricted View  of  this  prophecy — limiting  it  to  the  nartyrs. 

These  testimonies  are.  I  think,  sufiicient  to  show  that 
the  passage  before  us  is  not  a  clear  and  unambiguous  pro- 
phecy of  a  literal  resurrection  of  the  righteous  at-  large  a 

*  Lect.  on  Sec.  Adv.  No.  VII.  ut  supra.— Mr.  Burgh,  li^^'S  Bishop 
Newton,  seems  disposed  to  extend  the  word  martyr  so  as  *«  include 
sufferers  for  Christ  in  general.  But  this  appears  an  after- tb^'i^ht,  nni 
coming  out  of  his  exposition,  and  designed  to  meet,  as  far  aa  n^aaihl« 
the  objections  which  would  be  taken  to  his  restricted  view  of  th^  n*» 
■age. 

t  Sec  on  this  passage,  my  own  remarks,  pp.  93,  94. 

}  Lect.  on  Rev.  No.  XXI    ,  nt  supr.i. 


226  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

thousand  years  before  the  wicked.  For  while  those  who 
see  in  it  a  literal  resurrection  at  all  are  a  mere  handful  in 
opposition  to  the  general  voice  of  the  Church,  even  those 
who  do  take  it  literally  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  parties  in- 
tended by  it ;  and  of  those  who  conceive  it  to  embrace  the 
righteous  at  large,  some — and  the  most  distinguished — 
have  come  to  that  conclusion  with  much  hesitation,  and 
with  great  diffidence  as  to  the  soundness  of  that  opinion. 

Should  it  be  said  that  the  difference  above  noticed,  is 
after  all  not  so  great  as  to  throw  doubt  upon  the  clearness 
of  the  passage,  I  have  just  one  question  to  put  in  reply  : 
Has  there  ever  been  any  such  diversity  of  opinion  about  the 
subsequent  prophecy  of  the  final  resurrection  ?  That  I  call  a 
clear  and  unambiguous  prophecy  of  the  resurrection  of  all 
the  righteous  and  wicked  at  once,  and  in  proof  of  this  I 
appeal  to  the  all  but  universal  voice  of  the  Church.  Has 
there  ever  been  any  testimony  approaching  to  this,  either 
in  amount  or  harmony,  in  favour  of  the  literal  sense  of  the 
millennial  prophecy  ?  No,  there  has  not.  This,  then,  is 
my  second  presumption  against  it.  It  would  be  unreason- 
able to  insist  that  every  testimony  in  favour  of  a  truth 
should  be  equally  explicit.  But  if  we  are  reduced  to  one 
direct  testimony,  as  we  are  here,  in  favour  of  a  literal  mil- 
lennial resurrection,  it  is  reasonable  to  require  that  it  be 
unequivocal ;  and  because  it  is  not,  as  I  have  shown,  I 
think  this  circumstance  must  be  set  down  among  the  pre- 
sumptions against  the  literal  sense. 

Third.  If  a  resurrection  of  the  righteous  in  general — as 
contra-distinguished  from  the  wicked — be  the  true  sense 
of  this  prophecy,  the  description  is  very  unlike  the  thing 
to  be  described.  It  is  not  in  the  least  like  any  other  de- 
scription of  that  event  in  the  New  Testament.  Every 
other  description  of  the  resurrection  and  glory  of  the  saints 
as  such  is  catholic  in  its  character,  while  this  is  limited— 


PRESUMPTIONS  AGAINST  THE   LITERAL  SENSE.        237 

even  laboriously  so.  Let  me  request  the  reader  to  run  his 
eye  over  the  few  following  specimens  of  the  usual  language 
of  Scripture  on  this  subject : 

"  But  th£  righteous  into  life  eternal." — (Matt.  xxv.  46.) 

"  All  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come 
forth  ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life." — 
(John  V.  28,  29.) 

"  Whoso  eateth  my  Jlesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life  j 
and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day." — (John  iv.  54.) 

"  To  them  who  by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing  seek  for  gtm^y  and 
honour  and  immortality,  eternal  life." — (Rom.  ii.  7.) 

"  They  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming." — (1  Cor.  xv.  23.) 

"  Who  shall  change  our  vile  body  [whose  conversation  is  in 
hcaveny—{V\A\.  iii.  20,  21.) 

"  He  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  aU 
them  that  believe.'''' — (2  Thess.  i.  10.) 

*'  Our  gathering  together  unto  Him." — (Chap.  ii.  1.) 

**  To  them  tJiat  look  for  him  shall  he  appear  the  second  time  without 
sin  unto  salvation." — (Heb.  ix.  28.) 

"An  inheritance  incorruptible,  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not 
away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you,  who  are  kept  by  the  po^ner  of 
God  through  faith  unto  salvation.  .  .  .  The  grace  that  is  to  be 
brought  unto  you  at  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ." — (1  Pet. 
i.  4,  6,  13.) 

"  And  now,  little  children,  abide  in  him ;  that,  when  he  shall  ap- 
pear, we  may  have  confidence,  and  not  be  ashamed  before  him 

at  his  coming It  doth  not  appear  what  we  shall  be  : 

but  we  know  that,  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like 
him;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is." — (1  John  ii.  28,  29; 
iii.  2.) 

"  I  saw  the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  the  throne 

and  whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  was 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire."— (Rev.  xx.  12,  15.) 

Now,  compare  with  this  catholic  and   transparent  style 
the  description  here  given  of  the  subjects  of  this  millennial 


228  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION. 

resurrection,  and  say  if  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  they 
are  the  same  class  of  persons — the  righteous  at  large. 

"  And  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded  fcrr  the  witness 
of  Jesus  and  for  the  word  of  God,  and  which  had  not  wor- 
shipped the  beast,  neitlicr  his  image,  neither  had  received  his 
mmk  vpon  their  foreheads  or  in  tlieir  hands ;  and  they  lived," 
&c. 

I  shall  by  and  by  analyse  this  description,  and  show 
how  studiously  limited  it  is  to  one  particular  class  of  saints. 
At  present,  I  take  it  as  it  strikes  one  on  first  reading  it; 
and  I  have  just  to  ask  whether  it  be  natural  to  think  that 
this  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  description  of  "  the 
righteous"  "  entering  into  life  eternal" — of  "  them  that 
have  done  good"  "  coming  forth  unto  the  resurrection  of 
life" — of '•  those  who  have  eaten  Christ's  flesh  and  drunk 
his  blood  raised  up  at  the  last  day" — in  short,  of  our  uni- 
versal "  gathering  together  unto  him  ?"  If  it  he  so,  I 
can  only  say  as  before,  that  the  description  is  singularly 
unlike  the  thing  to  be  described — not  in  the  least  fitted  to 
suggest  it,  and  wholly  unlike  all  other  descriptions  of  the 
same  thing.  This,  then,  is  a  third  presumption,  that  a 
literal  millennial  resurrection  of  the  Church  of  God  is  not 
the  true  sense  of  this  prophecy. 

These  presumptions — and  more  that  might  be  men- 
tioned— against  the  literal  sense  of  the  millennial  pro- 
phecy, though  they  are  far  from  superseding  the  necessity 
of  examining  the  passage  itself,  are  more  than  sufficient  to 
neutralise  any  supposed  presumptions  on  the  other  side. 

In  now  coming  to  the  examination  of  the  passage  in 
detail,  I  will  first  disencumber  myself  of  some  arguments 
in  favour  of  the  figurative  sense,  which  I  believe  to  be  un- 
tenable. 

It  is  frequently  urged,  for  example,  that  because  •'  sou^'' 


UNTENABLE    ARGUMENTS  FOR   FIGURATIVE   iJENSE.    229 

('A«x«')  were  seen  in  this  vision,  and  no  mention  is  made 
of  bodies,  it  cannot  be  a  bodily  resurrection  that  is  meant.* 
But  this  is  to  mistake  what  the  apostle  saw  in  the  vision. 
He  did  not  see  a  rcsvrrection  of  smds.f  He  saw  '-the 
souls  of  them  that  were  slain  ;"  that  is.  he  had  a  vision  of 
the  martyrs  themselves  in  the  state  of  the  dead — affer  they 
were  slain,  and  just  before  their  resurrection.  Then  he  saw 
them  rise  :  "  They  lived" — not  their  souls,  but  theinselvcs. 
All  figurative  resurrections  in  Scripture  are  couched  in  the 
language  of  literal  ones  ;  and  why  should  this  be  any 
exception  ? 

Again  it  has  been  argued,  that  because  no  mention  is 
made  of  the  earth  in  this  prophecy,  a  literal  resurrection  to 
reign  on  the  earth  is  not  the  sense  of  it.:|:     But  nothing,  I 

*  "It  is  unaccountable,"  says  Scott^  "that  'the  souls'  of  the  persons 
raised  should  be  exclusively  mentioned,  if  the  literal  resurrection  of  their 
bodies  was  meant :  for  this  rather  implies,  according  to  the  enigmatical 
style  of  the  book,  that  their  bodies  re-animated  other  bodies;  that  is, 
they  appeared  to  live  again  in  Christians  of  the  same  spirit." — {Comm. 
in  loco.) 

"  On  looking  at  the  passage,"  says  Dr.  Hamilton,  "with  our  own  eyes, 
we  can  discover  no  body  in  it  at  all.  The  apostle  tells  us  positively  that  he 
saw  the  '  souls,'  &c.  [The  capitals  are  the  author's  own.]  In  vain  shall 
we  explore  the  whole  New  Testament  to  find  the  word  souls  applied 
either  to  the  subjects  of  the  resurrection,  or  to  glorified  persons  of  be- 
lievers."—Mod.  MUlen.,  pp.  203,  204.) 

The  answer  sometimes  given  to  this  argument  by  pre-millennialists  is 
as  bad  as  itself;  namely,  that  the  word  soul  in  Scripture  often  denotes 
the  life  of  a  person,  or  himself.  This  is  true  enough,  but  is  nothing  to 
the  point ;  because  what  the  apostle  saw  was  not  ^' souls"  merely,  but 
"  the  souls  of"  certain  persons — which  can  be  nothing  but  their  disem- 
bodied spirits.  The  literalists  have  a  better  way  of  meeting  what  is 
brought  against  them  from  the  word  "  souls"  than  this. 

t  "I  cannot  see,"  says  Scott,  "how  the  resurrection  of  souls  can 
literally  mean  the  resurrection  of  bodies."  The  worthy  man  has  hero 
made  his  own  difl!iculty,  for  it  is  not  in  tlie  vision. 

X  Dr.  Ash,  in  some  sensible  and  judicious  Lectures  on  the  Apocalypse, 
urges  this— ^ Four  Lect.  on  the  Apoc.  delivered  in  the  spring  of  1848|| 

U 


230  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

think,  cau  be  clearer,  than  that  the  earth  is  the  theatre  of 
the  millennial  reign  ; — that  having  "  destroyed  them  thai 
destroyed  (or  corrupted,  Siaipeeipovras)  the  earth"  he  is  now 
giving  it  into  the  hands  of  those  who  will  possess  it  for  the 
Lord  ; — that  it  is  just  what  Daniel  saw,  "  the  giving  of 
the  kingdom  and  dominion  of  the  greatness  of  the  king- 
dom, under  the  whole  heaven,  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of 
the  Most  High"  (Dan.  vii.  27) ;  or  what  the  elders  were 
heard  anticipating  in  song,  •'  We  shall  reign  on  the  earth" 
(Rev.  V.  10).  Whether  this  reign  be  literal  or  figurative, 
the  earth  is  without  doubt  the  place  of  it. 

Once  more,  it  has  been  said,  that  because  the  word 
•'  resurrection"  is  sometimes  used  in  Scripture  to  denote 
the  life  of  the  soul  in  its  disembodied  state,  there  is  no 
reason  why  it  should  not  be  so  taken  here.  Thus  Dr.  Ash 
and  others.  Mr  Gipps,  in  his  able  "  Treatise  on  the 
First  Resurrection,"  though  he  does  not  go  this  length,  re- 
counts the  various  senses  in  which  the  word  "  resurrection" 
may  be  taken  in  Scripture,  to  show  that  we  are  not  com- 
pelled, by  the  mere  use  of  the  word,  to  understand  it 
literally  here.  I  am  not  aware  that  any  one  has  been  so 
unreasonable  as  to  say  this ;  nor  can  I  see  what  is  gained 
by  such  criticism.  It  is  impossible  to  deny  that  the  word 
here  denotes  the  restoring  of  life  to  the  dead ;  and  as  such 
language  is,  beyond  all  contradiction,  employed  in  Scrip- 
ture to  express  a  figurative  resuscitation  as  well  as  a  bodily 
resurrection,  the  only  question  ought  to  be,  In  which  of 
the  two  senses  is  it  employed  here?  To  that  question, 
then,  let  us  now  address  ourselves.  There  appear  to  me, 
then,  to  be 


p.  87.)  On  the  same  ground,  Piscator,  Dr.  Henry  More,  Bengel,  and 
others  long  ago,  while  they  took  the  millennial  resurrection  to  be  literal, 
made  the  place  of  their  reign  with  Christ  to  be  not  earth  bui  heaven.  Sc 
also  Moses  Stuart  now. 


FIGURATIVE FIRST    AND    SECOND    ARGUMENTS.    231 


NINE  INTERNAL    EVIDENCES    THAT  THE  MILLENNIAL  RP:SlIRilEC- 
TION    IS    NOT    LITERAL,    BUT    FIGURATIVE. 

I,  If  "  the  first  resurrection"  mean  rising  from  the  grave 
in  immortal  and  glorified  bodies,  we  do  not  need  the  assu* 
ranee,  that  "  on  such  the  secondldeath  hath  no  power^^  (v.  6.), 
or  in  other  words,  that  they  shall  not  perish  everlastingly. 
Can  it  be  believed  that  the  Spirit  of  God  means  nothing 
more  than  such  a  truism  1  But  only  suppose  that  the 
first  resurrection  is  a  glorious  state  of  the  Church  o/i  earthy 
and  in  its  mortal  state, — that  those  who  live  during  that 
period — a  period  of  '•  life  from  the  dead"  as  never  before 
— shall  be  "  men  of  like  passions  with  ourselves,"  having 
to  walk  like  us  in  "  the  narrow  way,"  to  struggle  with  cor- 
ruption as  we  have,  and  like  us  to  "  lay  hold  on  eternal 
life," — take  it  ^thus,  and  the  promise,  that  "  on  such  the 
second  death  shall  have  no  power,"  becomes  intelligible 
and  highly  consolatory. 

I  think  this  sense  of  the  words  is  put  beyond  reasonable 
doubt  by  the  fact,  that  in  another  part  of  this  same  book, 
where  we  have  the  same  identical  promise,  that  certain 
persons  "shall  not  be  hurt  by  the  second  death,"  the 
promise  relates  not  to  risen  and  glorified  men,  but  to  "  him 
that  overcometh"  in  the  struggle  for  "  the  crown  of  life"  (Rev. 
ii.  10,  J  1).  What  though,  in  the  millennial  era,  they  will  not 
have  to  struggle  with  the  external  opposition  which,  though 
seldom  long  away  in  previous  ages,  yet  does  sometimes  cease, 
and  will  then  be  effectually  put  down  ?  Still,  they  will 
have  to  "  overcome  ;"  and  the  assurance  of  our  prophecy  is, 
that  this  victorious  spirit,  as  it  will  be  the  reigning  charac- 
teristic of  the  millennial  period,  so  it  will  be  the  bright 
pledge  of  immunity  from  the  power  of  the  second  death. 

II.  There  are  but  two  alternatives  in  this  prophecy — 
either  to  "  have  part  in  the  first  resurrection,"  or  to  he  under 


232  MILLENNIAL  RESURRECTION 

the  "  power  of  the  second  death."  "  Blessed  and  hoi) 
is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection  :  on  them  (cti 
rourwv)  the  sccond  death  hath  no  power."  Into  which  of 
these  classes  are  we  to  put  the  myriads  of  men  who  are  to 
people  the  earth,  in  flesh  and  blood,  during  the  millennium? 
They  have  no  "  part  in  the  first  resurrection,"  if  it  be  a 
bodily  one.  Are  they  given  over,  then,  to  "  the  power  of 
the  second  death  ?"  But  only  suppose  "  the  first  resurrec- 
tion" to  be  a  phrase  denoting  the  character  of  the  millen- 
nial era,  as  one  of  prevailing  spiritual  life — bright  earnest 
of  life  everlasting  on  that  "  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness  ;"  and  then  the  assurance  that  '•  on  such  the 
second  death  hath  no  power,"  becomes  a  promise  that  such 
as  possess  this  character — found  in  its  substance  in  every 
renewed  man,  and  constituting  the  prevailing  character  of 
the  millennial  era — shall  not  "  be  hurt  of  the  second 
death." 

III.  The  express  mention  of  how  long  this  "life  and 
reign  with  Christ"  will  last,  namely,  '*  a  thousand  years^'' 
if  meant  to  inform  us  what  a  long  period  of  earthly  pros- 
ferity  the  Church  is  yet  destined  to  enjoy,  is  intelligible 
and  cheering.  But  to  say  that  the  risen  and  glorified 
Church  is  to  live  and  reign  with  Christ  for  a  period  of  a 
thousand  years,  is  totally  unlike  the  language  of  Scripture 
in  every  other  place.  I  know  what  is  said  in  answer  to 
this,  but  it  has  no  force.  The  limiting  of  the  life  and 
reign  to  a  thousand  years,  we  are  told,  has  relation  not  to 
the  risen  saints,  but  only  to  those  over  whom  they  reign, 
and  to  the  imperfection  which  will  continue  upon  earth  till 
that  thousand  years  be  ended.  But  so  says  not  the  text. 
No  mention  is  made  of  their  reigning  over  any  other  class 
of  persons ;  still  less  is  it  said  that  they  reigned  only  over 
them  for  a  thousand  years,  but  with  Christ  for  ever.  On 
the  )ontrary,  it  is  just  this   -eign  of  the  saints  with  Chrisi 


FIGURATIVE THIRD    AND    FOURTH    ARGUMENTS.    233 

that  is  to  last  a  thousand  years.  The  very  thing  which 
every  where  is  said  to  be  unbroken  and  everlasting  (•'  So 
SHALL  WE  EVER  BE  WITH  THE  Lord")  is  here  said — if  it  be 
a  reign  in  their  glorified  state — to  be  limited  to  a  thousand 
years.  Vain  are  all  the  attempts  made  to  explain  away 
this,  as  if  the  still  changeable  state  of  the  earth  might  ac- 
count for  a  period  being  mentioned.  For  the  words  of  the 
text  fix  down  the  limitation  not  to  the  accidents  but  to  the 
essence  of  the  reign — telling  us  that  it  was  their  "  living 
and  reigning  with  Christ,^'  whatever  that  means,  that  lasted 
a  thousand  years  And  as  we  are  immediately  told  of  a 
great  change  for  the  worse,  after  the  expiry  of  this  period, 
and  during  another  shorter  period  called  "  a  little  season^^* 
it  is  perfectly  clear  that  the  "  life  and  reign  with  Christ," 
considered  as  the  characteristic  feature  of  the  millennial  state, 
terminate  with  the  thousand  years.*  I  think  this  is  enough 
convincingly  to  show  that  it  is  no  literal  resurrection  of 
the  Church  of  God  to  be  evor  with  her  Lord  that  is  here 
intended,  but  the  long  period  of  a  thousand  years'  "  life  from 
the  dead"  in  that  figurative  sense  with  which  Scripture,  in 
previous  portions  of  it,  had  made  us  so  familiar. 

IV.  By  making  the  party  that  "live  and  reign  with 
Christ  a  thousand  years"  to  be  the  entire  Church  of  Grod 
risen  from  their  graves,  we  are  forced  to  do  violence  to  the 
whole  subsequent  context. 

Thus,  the  other  or  wicked  party,  styled  '*  the  rest  of  the 
dead."  who  '•  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand  years  were 
finished."  must  of  course  be  expected  to  "  live  again"  in  the 
same  bodily  sense,  "  when  the  thousand  years  are  finished."! 

*  Least  of  all  can  tho?e  who  believe  that  there  will  be  a  fleshly  state 
to  all  eternity,  over  which  the  glorified  will  reign,  and  of  course  imperfec- 
tion on  earth  lor  ever,  assign  even  a  tolerable  reason  for  the  emphatic 
Baying,  that  the  risen  saints  will  "  reign  with,  Christ  a  thousand  yearsj^ 
But  the  difficulty  is  nearly  as  great  in  any  way  of  it. 

t  ^^Mr.  Elliott,  indeed,  observes  that  the  expression,  ^  till  the  thou. 
u2 


234  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

But  so  far  from  this,  we  read  of  no  bodily  resurrection  ai 
all  on  the  expiry  of  this  period.  "  When  the  thousand 
years  are  finished"  (rcXeo-^jj),  ^e  read  that  "  Satan  shall 
be  loosed  out  of  his  prison"  (v.  7)  for  a  period  expressly 
called  "  a  little  season^^  (v.  3).  In  relation  to  the  thousand 
years,  this  may,  for  aught  we  know,  extend  to  a  century  or 
two.  (Bengel,  according  to  his  system  of  computation, 
sets  it  down  as  a  period  of  a  hundred  and  eleven  years  and 
a  fraction,)  Be  this  as  it  may,  when  we  consider  the  work 
he  has  to  do — "  he  shall  go  out  to  deceive  the  nations  which 
are  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth,  Grog  and  Magog, 
the  number  of  whom  is  as  the  sand  of  the  sea ;"  and  ob- 
serve not  only  the  multitudes  he  collects,  but  the  union 
and  organization  effected  in  this  stupendous  and  appalling 
confederacy — the  last  desperate  effort  of  the  serpent — 
*'  they  went  up  on  the  breadth  of  the  earth,  and  compassed 
the  camp  of  the  saints  about,  and  the  beloved  city  :"  In 
view    of  this,   I   think  the  little    season    of  the  enemy's 

sand  years  were  finished,'  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  '  the  rest  of 
the  dead'  would  rise  immediately  on  the  completion  of  the  thousand 
years,  and  cites  two  passages  in  proof.  [So  Mr.  Birks,  "  Four  Empires," 
&c.,  Appendix  II.]  "We  do  not  dispute  this.  We  hold  that  a  state- 
ment to  the  efi'ect  that  a  particular  event  shall  not  take  place  till 
after  a  given  time  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  it  must  take 
place  even  then.  But  when,  as  here,  two  things  are  mentioned 
together ;  when  their  order  is  stated ;  when  a  period  is  assigned  to 
the  first,  and  the  commencement  of  the  second  is  deferred  till  the 
period  is  fulfilled  ;  and  when,  after  this  distinction  of  times,  the  first  is 
again  brought  forward  and  characterized — it  seems  impossible  to  avoid 
the  conclusion,  that  the  two  constitute  one  uninterrupted  series,  grada- 
tional  or  antithetic,  and  that  the  specification  of  times  is  exact.  Be- 
sides, the  time  till  which  their  living'  again  is  deferred,  is  expressed 
word  for  word  as  the  time  is  till  which  Satan  is  bound.  Both  are — 
axpi-  Tc\zaBri  ra  ^iXta  er/j — '  till  the  thousand  years  shall  be  fulfilled.' 
Whence  it  is  but  reasonable  to  infer  that  there  exists  an  intimate  con- 
nexion bUween  them." — British  Quarterly  Review,  February  1849— 
"  Modern  Millennarianism,"  an  able  article,  and  on  this  vision  particu- 
larly so. 


FIGURATIVE FOURTH    ARGUMENT.  235 

liberty,  after  the  expiry  of  the  thousand  years,  and  com- 
pared with  that  long  period  of  '•imprisonment,"  can  liardly 
be  overstretched  by  extending  it  to  a  century  or  so.  Well, 
during  all  this  time  we  read  of  nn  bodily  resurrection  at  all. 
This  post-millennial  period  is  to  be  filled  up  with  something 
else  than  bodily  resurrections.  It  will  indeed  be  employed 
in  the  raising  of  d  wicked  party,  but  not  bodily,  from  their 
graves.  Where,  then,  do  we  read  of  the  bodily  resurrection 
of  that  party  called  "  the  rest  of  the  dead  ?"  Nowhere. 
We  go  downwards  in  the  chapter  to  find  them,  till  we  come 
to  the  account  of  the  last  judgment,  and  there  observing 
that  '•  the  dead,  small  and  great, ^^  are  seen  '•  standing  before 
the  throne,"  we  are  forced  to  suppose  that  these  '•  dead 
small  and  great,"  must  just  be  "  the  rest  of  the  dead," 
we  have  been  seeking  for — otherwise,  they  never  appear 
again  at  all.  But  how  very  unnatural  is  this  !  I  have 
shown  already  (pp  210,  211)  how  harsh  such  a  construction 
is — one  which  nothing  but  necessity  would  drive  any  one  to. 

But  this  is  not  all  the  violence  which  the  literal  sense 
obliges  us  to  do  to  the  text.  For,  when  once  we  have  made 
"  the  dead,  small  and  great,  that  stand  before  the  throne" 
at  the  final  judgment  to  be  the  same  as  the  "  rest  of  the 
dead  that  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand  years  were 
finished,"  we  are  forced  to  exclude  the  righteous  altogether 
from  the  last  judgment,  making  "  the  dead,  small  and 
great,"  to  be  every  one  of  them  wicked.  This,  besides  doing 
the  greatest  imaginable  violence  to  that  august  scene,  gives 
no  explanation  of  the  "  opening  of  the  book  of  life"  on  that 
occasion,  except  one  which  I  have  shown  to  be  wholly  inad- 
missible (pp.  214-216),  and  I  would  say  absurd — namely, 
to  show  that  none  of  those  then  judged  have  their  names 
written  in  it ! 

Thus,  by  making  the  millennial  resurrection  to  be  the 
literal  rising  again  of  the  whole  Church  of  God  out  of  their 


236  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

graves,  we  are  driven  into  the  harshest  interpretations  of 
the  subsequent  context,  and  bring  out  results  which  no  ona 
would  otherwise  ever  think  of. 

Now,  reverse    the  process.     Make  the  resurrection  of 
both  the  parties  figurative — as  expressive  of  the  thousand 
years'  extinction  of  the  one  and  triumph  of  the  other,  with 
the  temporary  resurrection  of  the  defeated  body  and  their 
gigantic  death-throes,  under  the  desperate  agency  of  thfi 
old  serpent  before  the    final  ruin    of  his    kingdom — and 
not  only  are  all  the  difficulties  of  the  other  sense  avoided, 
but  a  meaning  put  upon  the  whole  chapter  consistent  with 
itself,  and  entirely  accordant  with  the  phraseology  of  Scrip- 
ture in  other  places.     In  this  view  of  the   prophecy,  we 
have  a  double  representation  of  both  the  parties   that  have 
been  struggling  for  the  mastery  ever  since  the  fall.     The 
party  of  "  the   serpent"  and  that  of  "  the  woman's   seed" 
are  each  of  them  described  both  nakedly  and  symbolically. 
Going  back  to  the   close  of  the  previous  chapter,  we  read 
that  •'  the  beast  was  taken,  and  with   him  the  false  "prophet^ 
and  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone" 
(xix.  21).     This  puts    an  end  to  the  anti-christian  king- 
dom ;  but  it  is  added,    "  The  remnant" — or  "  the  rest  (ol 
XoiTToi^ — were  slain  with  the  sword  of  him  that  sat  upon  the 
horse,  which  sword  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth  :  and  all 
the  fowls  were  filled  with  their  flesh"  (v.  21).     A  marked 
distinction  is  thus  drawn  between  the  doom  of  "  the  beast 
and  false  prophet,"  and  that  of  "  the  rest."     The   former 
go  to  "  the  lake  of  fire" — never  more  to  re-appear :  The 
other  do  not  so,  but  are  merely  ''  slain  with  the  sword  from 
the  mouth  of  Christ."     We  are  prepared,  then,  for  the  pos- 
sibility,   at  least,  of    their  re-appearance  upon  the  stage. 
Accordingly  we  find  them,  as  I  shall  show,    in  the  fifth 
verse    of    the    next     chapter,    under    their     old    name  — 
^'•the    'rest    [n^omoi)  of  the    dead;"    dead,   that  is,  in  the 


riGURATIVE FOURTH    ARGUMENT.  237 

same  sense  in  which  the  other  party  are  meant  as  dead — ■ 
in  respect  of  the  cause  they  espouse.  In  this  sense  they 
"  live  not  again  (after  being  '  slain  with  the  sword  from 
Christ's  mouth ')  until  the  thousand  years  are  finished." 
Leaving  them,  then,  for  the  present,  a  dead  party,  we  iu- 
quirc  now  what  becomes  of  the  other  party,  so  long  held 
down.  The  twentieth  chapter  begins  with  them  An 
angel  from  heaven  lays  hold  of  the  devil,  binds  him  a 
thousand  years,  shuts  and  seals  him  up  in  the  bottomless 
pit,  that  he  may  no  more  deceive  the  nations  till  the  thou- 
sand years  be  fulfilled  (v.  1-3).  The  earth  is  at  rest  from 
the  plots  and  seductions  of  the  enemy.  His  cause  is  at  an 
end — his  kingdom  extinguished — and  for  a  thousand 
years,  "  the  sovereignty  of  the  world "  is  "  our  Lord\  and 
his  Chrisfs'^*  (chap.  xi.  18).  This  same  state  is  next 
represented  symbolically — as  a  resurrection  of  the  martyrs^ 
under  both  the  Pagan  and  the  Papal  systems,  as  I  shall  by 
and  by  show.  No  one  can  say  that  this  is  an  unusual 
mode  of  representing  the  revival  or  recovery  of  a  cause 
which  for  a  time  was  as  good  as  dead.  We  have  it  in 
Ezekiel's  vision  of  the  dry  bones.  We  have  it  in  Paul's 
prediction  of  the  same  event,  as  "  life  from  the  dead " 
(Rom.  xi.).  We  have  it  in  the  resurrection  of  the  slain 
witnesses  in  this  same  book  (ch.  xi.).t  Nor  is  the  figure 
less  familiar  in  the  current  style  of  writers  of  every  age 
and  nation,  to  express  the  revival  of  a  dead  cause. 

*  ^ycvtTo  h  PaffiXeiUy  k.  t.  >.  "Much  more  glorious,"  says  Bengel, 
*'  Is  this  primitive  reading  than  that  of  a  hasty  transcriber,  tytvovro  al  (iaai- 
Xeto,  K.  T.  X.  Since  then,  every  critical  edition  of  the  text  has  introduced 
this  "much  more  glorious"  reading.  The  English  I  have  adopted  from 
TregeLles, 

t  I  shall  not  overlook,  in  its  proper  place,  the  objection  made  to  this, 
namely,  that  in  none  of  the  cases  adduced  was  the  death  a  bodihj  one, 
and  therefore  we  do  not  expect  a  bodily  resurrection ;  whereas,  the 
martyrs  in  our  prophecy  died  for  Christ  in  the  body.     I  shall  show  that, 


238  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION. 

So  much,  then,  for  the  "  rising  and  reigning  "  party  in  the 
millennial  era.  "  The  Lord  alone  is  exalted  in  that  day  ;  " 
and  "  the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the 
kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  is  given  to  the  people 
of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High."  As  for  the  other  party — 
"  the  rest  of  the  dead  " — they  live  not  again  until  the  thou- 
sand years  are  finished."  To  use  the  triumphant  language 
of  the  prophet,  pointing  to  this  same  period,  "  They  are 
dead,  they  shall  not  live :  they  are  deceased,  they  shall  not 
rise  :  To  this  end  hast  thou  visited  them,  and  made  all 
memory  of  them  to  perish"    (Isa.  xxvi.  14). 

But  the  very  hint,  "  they  lived  not  again  till  the  thou- 
sand years  were  finished,"  is  a  warning  to  expect  their  re- 
appearance at  the  close  of  that  period  Accordingly,  though 
in  the  sense  of  a  literal  resurrection  of  their  bodies  we  never 
hear  of  them  again,  as  I  have  shown,  we  find  them  duly 
re-produced,  as  a  party,  by  the  old  serpent,  who  is  loosed 
at  the  close  of  the  millennium  for  that  very  purpose.  He 
was  to  "  deceive  the  nations  no  more  till  the  thousand  years 
were  fulfilled,"  and  "  when  the  thousand  years  were  ful- 
filled," and  Satan  is  loosed,  he  shall  again  '•  go  out  to  deceive 
the  nations;^^  not,  of  course,  the  same  individuals,  but  their 
successors,  who  are  spoken  of  under  the  same  name,  as 
deceived  first  for  long  ages,  then  undeceived  for  a  thousand 
years,  and  finally  again  exposed  to  deception.  Now,  this 
is  just  the  principle  on  which  we  interpret  the  whole  of  this 
symbolical  prophecy.  The  men  who.  from  age  to  age, 
have  adhered  to  Christ,  and  whose  witness  for  him  has  cost 
them  their  lives,  shall  live  again  in  a  race  of  men  who  for 
a  thousand  years  are  to  triumph  in  their  Lord's  name 
over  all  the  power  of  the  enemy.     But  this  by  the  way.     I 

according  to  our  way  of  taking  the  prophecy,  this  objection  does  nol 
apply.  At  present,  I  n  erely  urge  the  familiarity  and  expressiveness  of 
the  figure. 


FIGURATIVE FIFTH    ARGUMENT.  239 

was  saying  that  Satan  reproduces  his  party — "  they  liva 
again  when  the  thousand  years  are  finished,"  and  in  far 
greater  numbers  and  mightier  force  than  before  they  were 
^^slain  with  the  sword  from  Christ's  mouth  ;"  but.  like  him 
in  Daniel,  "  they  shall  come  to  their  end  and  none  shall 
help  them." 

GPhus  does  this  famous  prophecy,  when  viewed  as  sym- 
bolical, explain  naturally  from  beginning  to  end  ;  when 
taken  literally,  however  well  some  expressions  may  inter 
pret,  we  cannot  get  through  with  it. 

V.  The  next  objection  to  the  literal  sense  of  the  millen- 
nial prophecy  I  shall  give  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Gipps. 

"  The  declaration  (says  he)  made  in  verse  12,  concerning  thl 
*  opening  of  the  book  of  life,'  at  the  time  when  the  dead  are 
judged,  and  the  reference  made  to  it  in  verse  15,  convince  me 
that  the  first  resurrection  cannot  signify  the  resurrection  of  the 
saints  at  the  second  coming  of  Christ.  The  opening  of  the  book 
of  life  (as  observed,  page  11)  appears  to  me  to  signify  the  ma- 
nifestation of  those  who  are  written  in  it*  Two  reasons  lead  me 
to  conceive  that  this  must  take  place  at  the  second  coming  of 
Christ.  First,  ....  It  is  utterly  inconceivable  that  all  this  glory 
[described  in  Matthew  xxv.  31,  &c.]  can  be  conferred  upon  the 
saints,  and  such  a  manifestation  of  them  be  made  in  the  pre- 
sence of  Christ  and  of  all  the  holy  angels,  of  'one  another,  and 

*  "We  may  observe,"  says  the  author  at  page  11,  "  that  the  opening 
of  a  book  or  seal  appears,  in  the  Revelation,  to  denote  the  time  when  the 
fulfilment  or  manifestation  of  what  is  written  in  the  book  begins.  (See 
ch.  vi.  1,  3,  &c.)  Thus,  the  opening  of  '  the  books'  (v.  12)  evidently 
signifies  the  open  discovery  or  manifestation  of  what  is  written  therein ; 
that  is,  of  the  '  works'  of  those  who  stand  before  the  throne  of  judgment, 
(vv.  12,  13.)  Hence,  the  '  opening  of  the  book  of  life'  signifies  the  dis- 
covery  or  open  manifestation  of  those  who  are  written  therein  ;  that  is,  of 
the  saints,  Ch.  xiii.  8,  and  xvii.  8.  .  .  .  Prom  this,  therefore,  we  collect 
that  the  open  manifestation  of  those  who  are  written  in  the  book  of  life 
does  not  take  place  at  the  time  of  the  first  reeurrection,  but  after  the 
period  of  the  thousand  years  and  the  intervening  period  (7  to  10)  are 
ended,  and  at  the  time  when  the  dead  are  judged. 


240  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

of  all  the  ungodly  living  in  every  part  of  the  earth,  one  momerU 
before  what  is  called  the  '  opening  of  the  book  of  life.^  The  very  ab- 
surdity of  the  idea  would  convince  me  that  such  a  manifestation 
of  the  glory  of  those  who  are  written  in  the  book  of  life  must 
coincide  with,  and  be  the  same  as  '  the  opening  of  that  book.' 
And  the  expression  (v.  15),  '  Whosoever  was  not  found  written 
in  the  book  of  life,'  still  farther  proves  that  this  is  the  time  when 
the  open  discovery  or  manifestation  is  made  of  those  who  are 
written  therein. — Secondly,  It  is  expressly  set  forth  that  '  the 
manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God'  will  take  place  at  their  resurrection, 
(Rom.  viii.  19,  23.)  As,  therefore,  I  am  convinced  that  this 
manifestation  cannot  take  place  before  the  book  of  life  is  opened, 
in  which  their  names  are  written,  but  must  be  the  same  as  the 
discovery  of  those  who  are  Avritten  therein,  I  feel  assured  that 
the  resurrection  of  the  saints  will  be  at  the  time  of  the  '  opening 
of  the  book  of  life.'  and  not  at  the  '  first  resurrection.'  These 
two  reasons,  therefore,  prove  to  ray  mind  that  when  Christ  sits 
upon  the  throne  of  judgment  and  the  book  of  life  is  opened,  must 
be  the  time  of  his  second  coming  and  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
saints."* 

VI.  Another  argument  against  the  literal  sense  may 
also  be  expressed  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Gipps — 

"  The  omission  of  any  declaration  as  to  '  the  sea,  death,  and  the 
grave  [or  hades\,  giving  up  the  dead'  at  the  first  resurrection, 
and  the  making  such  a  declaration  respecting  '  the  dead'  in 
verse  13,  convinces  me  both  that  '  the  first  resurrection'  is  not 
that  of  the  saints,  and  also,  that  '  the  dead'  in  verses  12,  13,  in^ 
elude  all  mankind,  both  the  saints  and  the  ungodly.  In  every 
other  part  of  the  Word  of  God,  the  information  given  concerning 
the  resurrection  of  the  saints  is  not  only  much  more  frequent, 
but  also  much  more  explicit,  than  concerning  the  resurrection 
of  the  ungodly.  I  feel  convinced,  therefore,  that  in  this  portion 
also  of   Scripture,   if  it  were   intended   to  foretel   a  resurrection 

*  Treatise  on  the  First  Resurrection  (1831),  pp.  21-23— a  work  of 
great  modesty,  but  full  of  acute  verbal  criticism  ;  although  I  think  it 
fails  to  establish  the  author's  view  of  the  millennial  period  as  one  not 
future. 


FIGURATIVE SIXTH    AND    SEVENTH    ARGUMENTS.    241 

of  the  saints  distinct  from  that  of  the  ungodly,  more  explicit  in- 
formation would  be  given  concerning  the  former  than  concerning 
the  Latter.  I  find,  however,  that  the  information  given  concern- 
ing *  the  first  resurrection,'  instead  of  being  much  more,  is  much 
less  explicit  than  that  concerning  the  resurrection  intimated  in 
verses  12,  13;  for  there  is  not  the  least  allusion  to  '  the  sea,  death, 
and  the  grave  giving  up  the  dead'  at  the  first  resurrection,  and  it  is 
expressly  declared  that  they  do  this  at  the  time  of  the  resurrection 
set  forth  in  verses  12,  13.  By  contrasting  this,  therefore,  with  the 
course  pursued  in  other  portions  of  the  word  of  God,  I  feel  con- 
vinced that  the  first  resurrection  cannot  be  that  of  the  saints  ;  and 
that  verses  12,  13,  do  not  describe  the  resurrection  of  the  ungodly 
only,  but  that  of  the  saints  also,  and  include  all  the  dead  without 
any  exception."* 

VII.  The  clause,  "T%w  is  the  first  resurrection"  (v.  5), 
— which  is  thought  to  prove  it  literal — seems  to  me,  if  it 
prove  any  thing,  to  prove  the  reverse.  It  is  reasonable — 
say  the  pre-millennialists — to  suppose,  that  if  the  second 
or  last  resurrection  be  literal,  the  first  will  be  so  also- 
differing  from  the  second  only  in  time.  Unfortunately 
for  this  way  of  reasoning,  what  is  said  in  the  verse  imme- 
diately following  contradicts  it :  "  Blessed  and  holy  is  he 
that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection ;  on  such  the  second 
death  hath  no  power"  (v.  6).  Here  "  the  first  resur- 
rection" and  "  the  second  death"  are  intentionally 
brought  together  and  contrasted.  Is  the  first  death, 
then,  of  the  same  nature  with  the  second?  Does  the 
one  merely  precede  the  other  ?  No  ;  the  first  death  is  that 
of  the  bodi/,  the  second  that  of  both  bod]/  and  soul:  the 
first  death  is  common  to  the  righteous  and  the  wicked ; 
the  second  is  the  everlasting  portion  of  the  wicked,  and  of 
them  alone.  To  suffer  the  first  death  for  Christ  is  made 
the  ground  (not,  of  course,  the  meritorious  ground)  of  ex- 
emption from  the  power  of  the  second  death.     "  Be  thou 


*  First  Resurrection,  ut  supra,  pp,  20.  21. 

X 


242  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

faithful  unto  death,"  said  Christ  to  the  Church  of  Smyrna, 
and  I  will  give  thee  the  crown  of  life.  He  that  overcumeth 
shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death'*  (ch.  ii  10,  11). 
Now,  as  exemption  from  the  power  of  the  second  death  ia 
here  made  to  rest  upon  a  certain  character,  namely,  fidelity 
to  Christ  even  to  death  ;  and  in  our  millennial  chapter, 
exemption  from  the  power  of  the  same  second  death  is 
made  to  rest  upon  'participation  in  the  first  resurre  tinn,  is 
it  not  reasonable  to  conclude  that  this  "  first  resurrection'* 
is  meant  to  signify  a  certain  character  in  the  present  life, 
and  not  the  possession  of  bodily  resurrection  and  glory  ? 
And  what  character,  but  the  same  spirit  of  the  Smyrnean 
martyrs — that  faithfulness  to  Christ  which  '•  made  not  their 
lives  dear  unto  them"  for  his  names  sake  ?  What  though 
those  that  slew  them  are  not  alive  to  slay  their  millennial 
successors?  What  though  the  whole  persecuting  party  be 
extinct  then,  and  shall  "  live  not  again  till  the  thousand 
years  be  finished  ?"  It  is  not  the  actual  laying  doicn  of 
their  lives^  so  much  as  the  '-'•  faithfulness'^  which  made  the 
sacrifice,  that  Christ  promises  to  reward  with  exemption 
from  the  second  death  ;  and  surely  a  self-sacrificing  fidelity 
to  Christ  will  not  be  superfluous  during  the  millennium, 
merely  because,  when  Christians  are  ready  then  to  part  with 
themselves  and  every  thing  for  Christ,  there  will  be  nobody 
to  take  every  thing  or  any  thing  from  them. 

To  my  mind,  this  view  of  the  first  resurrection  is  put  be- 
yond doubt  by  these  following  words,  "  Blessed  and  holy  is 
he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection.'*  I  cannot  see 
what  important  information  is  conveyed  by  these  words,  if 
"  the  first  resurrection"  mean  a  restoration  to  bodily  life. 
To  tell  us  that  saints  risen  from  the  dead,  and  reigning  in 
glorified  bodies  with  Christ  are  holy^  seems  to  me  to  bo 
very  unlike  the  language  of  Scripture  every  where  else,  and 
very  superfluous.     I  have  already  remarked  the  same  thing 


FIGURATIVE SEVENTH    ARGUMENT.  243 

about  the  clause  that  follows  :  "  Over  such  the  second  death 
hath  no  power."  It  cannot  but  appear  strange  that  we 
should  be  told  that  the  risen  and  glorified  saints  will  not 
perish  eternally.  But  only  suppose  this  •'  first  resurrection" 
intended  to  express  the  character  of  the  millennial  era,  or 
of  the  Christians  who  are  privileged  to  live  then,  and  the 
language  of  this  verse  will  not  only  explain,  but  be  signifi- 
cant in  every  word  of  it.  The  word  "  blesserV^  will  then  ex- 
press the  high  privilege  they  enjoy  in  having  their  lot  cast  in 
.such  a  period.  Indeed,  the  same  language  is  employed  by 
Daniel  to  express  the  privilege  not  of  bodily  resurrection, 
but  of  living  in  the  body  during  this  very  period.  '"Blessed 
is  he  that  waiteth,  and  cometh  to  the  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  five  and  thirty  days"  (Dan.  xii.  12).  Then, 
the  word  '^  holy^^  in  our  verse  will  express  the  high  devot- 
edness  and  spirituality  that  will  distinguish  the  Christians 
of  that  period,  and  signalise  the  millennial  day  itself  above 
all  former  periods  in  the  world's  history.  And  lastly,  the 
closing  words  of  the  verse — ^^  over  such  the  second  death 
bath  no  power" — will  convey  the  consolatory  assurance, 
that  the  "  Ao/y"  character  of  that  "  blesseiV^  era  will  ensure 
its  genuine  possessors  of  exemption  from  the  second  death, 
and  the  joyful  reception  of  "  the  crown  of  life."* 

There  are  two  more  arguments  against  the  literal  sense 


♦  In  this  view  of  it,  the  idea  of  the  verse— a  spiritual  as  the  earnest 
of  a  bodily  resurrection— is  quite  familiar  in  the  language  of  the  New 
Testament.  "The  hour  is  coming,"  says  our  Lord,  "  and  now  is,  when 
the  {spirituaUy'\  dead  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  they  that  hear  shall 
[spiritually  ]  live :  marvel  not  at  this,  for  the  hour  cometh  in  which 
all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  conie  forth 
[6o(/i7y]."  "  My  sl^eep  hear  my  voice,  and  I  give  unto  them  [novo]  eter- 
nal life,  and  they  shall  never  perish  [or  die  the  second  death]."  "  If,"  says 
the  apostle,  '♦  the  Spirit  of  Him  that  raised  up  Jesus  our  Lord  dwell  in 
you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead  shall  also  quicken  your  mor- 
tal bodies  by  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you  [your  renewed  souls]." 


244  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECnON 

which  I  have  reserved  to  the  last,  because  they  spring  out 
of  a  closer  inspection  of  the  millennial  prophecy  than  we 
have  yet  had  occasion  to  exercise.  The  seven  foregoing 
arguments  may  be  said  to  have  been  gathered  from  the 
surface  of  the  passage — the  two  following,  with  which  I 
will  conclude,  are  suggested  by  a  narrower  observation  of 
the  vision. 

VIII.  It  is  a  fatal  objection  to  the  literal  sense  of  this 
prophecy,  as  announcing  the  bodily  resurrection  of  all  dead, 
and  the  change  of  all  living  saints,  that  it  is  exclusively  a 
martyr-scene — the  prophet  beholding  simply  a  resurrection 
of  THE  SLAIN  ;  whercas  this  very  circumstance  eminently 
favors  the  figurative  sense. 

The  vision  is  described  first  generally,  and  then  in  de- 
tail. Two  companies  also  are  seen  in  the  vision,  and  in 
two  successive  and  opposite  conditions — first  as  dead  and 
dishonoured^  next  as  risen  and  reigning.     Thus  : — 

GENERAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  VISION. 

"  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment  was 
given  unto  them : 

DETAILED  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  VISION. 

Pirst  Company  seen  Dead. 

"  And  [I  saw]  tne  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded  for  the 
testimony  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  God; 

Second  Company  seen  Dead. 

"  And  [I  sawj  such  as  had  not  worshipped  the  beast,  neither  his 
image,  neither  had  received  his  mark  upon  the  forehead, 
and  on  the  hand : 

Both  Companies  seen  Risen  and  Keignmg. 
"  And  they  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  yeara." 
(v.  4.) 


FIGURATIVE— EIGHTH    ARGUMENT.  245 

A  few  remarks  on  the  several  clauses  of  the  passage  will 
Etill  further  open  it  up. 

'•  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them."  Who  sat 
upon  them?  Not  any  mentioned  as  yet,  for  the  vision 
begins  here.  Clearly,  therefore,  it  is  the  two  companies 
immediately  after  specified.  Accordingly,  as  soon  as  the 
prophet  has  described  these,  he  comes  back  to  his  first 
statement — '•  And  they  [those  now  specified]  lived  and 
reigned  a  thousand  years;"  as  if  he  had  said,  '-And  I 
saw  thrones,  and  persons  sitting  on  them,  to  whom  judg- 
ment was  given  ;  and  I  was  made  to  see  who  filled  the 
thrones  ;  for  I  saw  the  beheaded,  &c..  and  such  as  had 
not  worshipped  the  beast :  And  they  lived  and  reigned — 
these  were  they  whom  I  saw  in  the  thrones — and  their 
reign  lasted  a  thousand  years."  *  If  this  be  the  construc- 
tion of  the  passage,  as  it  clearly  is — if  the  words  "  they  sat 
upon  them."  mean  "  they  to  be  presently  mentioned" — then 

*  Mr.  Elliott^  perceiving  how  much  depends  upon  this  point,  gives  the 
words  another  turn,  but  one  that  I  am  convinced  is  untenable.  "  Christ 
and  his  saints"  says  he,  "  were  seen  to  talce  their  sitting  on  thrones  of 
judgment  and  royalty.  St.  John  specifies  particularly,  as  if  conspicuous 
among  them,  the  souls  of  them  that  had  been  beheaded,  .  .  .  and  others 
also,  whosoever  had  not  worshipped,"  &c. — {Hor.  Apor.  iv,  174,  sec.  edit.) 
One  objection  to  this  is,  that  it  introduces  into  the  vision  those  who 
were  not  seen  in  it,  and  makes  the  only  parties  who  were  seen  to  be 
merely  "conspicuous  among  the  whole  number  of  Christ's  saints." 
Another  objection  is,  that  it  obliges  us  to  seek  for  a  nomimtive  to  the 
verb  '•  sat''-  the  parties  that  were  seen  in  the  thrones — out  of  this  vision 
altogether.  Mr.  Elliott,  in  his  reply  to  my  letter  before  referred  to,  takes 
the  nominative  to  "  saC*  to  be  •'  Christ  and  his  attendant  hosts,  described 
at  large  in  the  preceding  chapter  as  combatants  against,  and  conquerors 
over,  the  beast,"  &c.  That  is  to  say,  he  takes  his  nominative  out  of  a 
perfectly  different  vision  from  the  one  where  the  verb  is;  and  rot  only 
80,  but  since  another  vision  comes  in  between  these  two,  we  have  his 
nominative  in  the  Ji-st  vision  and  the  verb  in  the  third,  or  at  least  another 
and  quite  distinct  representation  of  the  same  period  from  the  second 
viclcw.    Could  any  more  unnatural  and  inadmissible  construction  b« 

x2 


240  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

we  must  put  no  other  saints  into  the  vision  besides  those 
afterwards  specified ;  and  the  concluding  words,  "  And 
they  (those  just  specified)  lived  and  reigned,"  tie  us  per- 
emptorily/ down  to  those  two  companies  alone.  Who.  then, 
are  they  ?     The  next  two  clauses  furnish  the  reply  : 

"  And  [I  saw]  the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded 
for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  and  for  the  word  of  God." 
Beheadiyig^*  a  well-known  Roman  mode  of  putting  to  an 
ignominious  death,  is  mentioned  here,  merely  to  denote 
the  Roman  authority  by  which  they  were  slain,  in  the 
Pagan  and  unbroken  period  of  the  empire.  All  the 
martyrs  of  Jesus,  then,  under  the  Pagan  persecutions  are 
here  embraced.  The  next  clause  describes  another  class  of 
martyrs,  after  this  class  was  completed.  But  before  com- 
ing to  it,  let  me  request  the  reader's  attention  to  the  fol- 
lowing passage,  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  this  book,  where 
the  same  class  of  martyrs  (under  Paganism)  are  described 
in  nearly  identical  terms,  and  the  other  class  announced  as 
yet  to  come : 

"  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fifth  seal,  I  saw  under  the 
altar  the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for  the  word  of 
God,  and  for  the  testimony  which  they  held:  And  they 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,  How  long.  0  Lord.f  holy  and  true, 

proposed  7  But  take  the  verb  (^tKadiaav)  "  they  sat,"  impersonally^  as 
equivalent  to  "they  were  sate  upon" — a  usage  quite  familiar  in  the 
Greek  Testament  and  the  Septuagint,  and  the  construction  of  the  whole 
passage  becomes  transparent.* 

*  IlejrcAwtcr/^cvajv,  from  ireKtKvi,  an  axe. 

•\  AsoTTorrii,  Master — having  rule  over  the  oppressors  equally  with  the 
oppressed. 

•  "  Nothin?  scarcely"  (says  Moses  Stuart,  who  takes  the  literal  sense  of  our 
▼ision)  "  is  more  common  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  New,  and  especially  in 
the  Chaldee  of  the  book  of  Daniel  than  to  employ  the  third  person  plural  for  the 
passive  voice,  thus  makinor  a  kind  of  impersonal  verb  of  it :  Gtamm.  §  174.  Note 
2." — iComm.  on  Apoc.  ad  loc.)  "  In  the  New  Testament"  (says  Winer)  "verba 
»re  used  impersonally,  -a  the  third  pers>3  plural."  Then  follow  some  examples 
Gramm.  §  49. 


FIGURATIVE EIGHTH    ARGUMENT.  247 

dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell 
on  the  earth  7  And  a  v/hite  robe  was  given  unto  every  one 
of  them  ;*  and  it  was  said  unto  them,  that  they  should  rest 
yet  for  a  [little Jf  season,  until  both  their  fellow-servants  and 
their  brethren,  that  should  be  killed  as  they  were,  should  be 
fulfilled." 

Tlie  persons  seen  in  this  vision  are  unquestionably  the 
same  as  the  first  class  in  our  millennial  vision  ;  and  it  is 
"  their  souls"  that  are  seen  in  both  cases,  or  themselves  in 
the  state  of  the  dead — as  slain  for  tlie  word  of  God.  In 
the  former  vision,  however,  the  apostle  hears  them  asking 
'•judgment;"  in  the  latter,  he  sees  them  get  it.  "  How 
long,  0  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and 
avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  ?"  is 
their  doleful  cry  in  the  one  vision :  "  And  I  saw  thrones, 
and  they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment  was  given  unto 
them^''  is  the  delightful  response  to  that  cry  which  the 
apostle  was  privileged  to  announce  in  the  other.  The  one, 
in  short,  is  the  petition  'presented.,  and  the  other,  the  peti- 
tion granted.  But  the  connexion  of  the  two  visions  is 
closer  than  this.  The  petitioning  party  in  the  former  vision 
are  one.  But  they  are  told  there  is  another  party  to  come 
after  them,  to  be  treated  like  themselves,  and  who  will 
have  to  be  judged  and  avenged  as  well  as  they.  They 
must  wait,  therefore,  till  theii  time  be  over  ;  and  then  they 
shall  both  together  "  have  judgment  given  them,  and  their 

*  EJo0»j  aMTQii  cKaiTbi  aroXri  XevKti.  So  the  true  reading  would  seem  to 
be,  as  given  by  Scholz,  Lachmann,  Tisckendorf,  and  IVegelles.  Seholz, 
however,  omits  kKaarw,  and  Tregelles  puts  it  in  brackets.  Bengd, 
whose  verbal  accuracy  seldom  fails  him,  in  reply  to  Wolfius,  who  had 
said  it  might  justly  be  doubted  whether  John  wrote  avTois  kKaaTw,  says, 
"  But  he  has  written  v^tv  i<ca<rrw,  chap.  ii.  23 ;  and  so  Luke  ii.  3, 
9avT£s,  tKaaroi-  and  Acts  ii.  8,  i;/i£<f,  UajroS'  Paul,  Eph.  v.  33,  ineif 
Uaaros.    This  very  avron  £(catrraj  occurs  in  Sir  xvii.  14." 

t  It  seems  doubtful  whether  the  word  "little"  was  originally  in  the 
text,  but  the  evidence  is  scarcely  sufficient  to  remove  it. 


248  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

blood  be  avenged  on  them  that  dwell  on  tne  earth." 
"  White  robes  were  given  unto  every  one  of  them  ;  and  it 
was  said  unto  them,  that  they  should  rest  yet  for  a  little 
season,  until  their  fellow-servants  also,  and  their  brethren, 
that  should  be  killed  as  they  were,  should  be  fulfilled^  As 
these  are  clearly  two  distinct  parties  suffering  in  succession 
for  Christ,  and  as  the  former  includes  all  who  suffered  un- 
der the  great  red  dragon  in  his  Pagan  form,  the  latter  can 
be  no  other  than  those  who  were  to  suffer  under  the  same 
dragon  in  his  Fapal  form  of  opposition  to  Christ.  Now, 
as  judgment  is  promised  to  the  former  party  as  soon  as 
their  brethren  and  fellow- servants  of  the  other  party  have 
suffered,  or  after  Antichrist  shall  have  fallen  and  the  mil- 
lennial time  have  arrived — we  naturally  look  for  both  far- 
ties  in  our  vision,  and  expect  to  find  ''•judgment  given^^  to 
both  together  "against  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth." 
Accordingly,  so  it  is.  That  exquisite  jointing  of  the  cor- 
responding parts  of  this  book — which,  with  other  peculiar 
features  of  it,  so  fascinated  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  that  he 
pronounced  it  to  have  more  characters  of  divinity  than  any 
other  book  of  Scripture — is  nowhere  better  seen  than  here 
"  I  saw  (says  the  apostle)  the  souls  of  them  that  were  be- 
headed for  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of 
God" — '  Those  whom  I  had  before  seen  under  the  altar — 
the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and 
for  the  testimony  which  they  held — them  I  now  saw  again, 
getting  the  judgment  which  then  they  sought.'  So  much 
for  the  first  company  of  martyrs,  under  Paganism.  The 
next  clause  of  our  passage  describes  the  second  company  : — 

"  And  [I  saw  the  souls  of]  such  as  had  not  worshipped  the 
beast,  neither  his  image,  neither  had  received  his  mark 
upon  the  forehead  and  in  the  hand." 

The  resurrection  of  this  company  shows    they  were  seen 


riGURATIl'E EIGHTH    ARGUMENT.  249 

as  deaA^  while  the  ^^ judgment"  given  to  them  along 
with  the  former  class — in  fulfilment  of  the  promise 
made  to  that  class,  that  they  should  have  judgment  given 
them  as  soon  as  the  other  party  were  ''  killed  as  Ihey  were" 
— puts  it  beyond  doubt  that  this  is  a  martyr  comipany  too. 
Accordingly,  we  read  (ch.  xiii.  15),  that  "it  was  given  to 
him  [the  second  beast  that  spake  like  a  dragon,  v.  11]  to 
cause  that  as  many  as  would  not  worship  the  image  of  the 
beast  should  be  killedP  * 

The  last  clause  of  the  passage  needs  no  comment :  "  And 
they  " — these  two  martyr  companies — "  lived  and  reigned 
with  Christ  a  thousand  years." 

Thus  this  celebrated  vision  is  exclusively  a  visional  re. 
surrection  of  martyrs.     Not  only  are  none  else  in   it,  but 

*  I  have  to  thank  the  author  of  the  article  already  quoted  from  (p.  234), 
for  pointing  out  the  omission  of  this  passage  in  my  former  edition.  He 
is  not  quite  correct,  however,  when  he  states,  that  though  I  have  "rightly 
named  the  parties  intended,  I  have  not  identified  them  by  any  reference 
to  the  earlier  chapters,"  and  have  "admitted  that  no  mention  had  been 
made  of  their  death."  My  whole  reasoning,  on  the  contrary,  was  built 
upon  the  identity  of  the  parties  here  and  in  ch.  vi.  The  admispion  that 
the  death  of  the  second  company  is  not  expressly  mentioned  in  our 
millennial  vision,  the  reviewer  himself  makes  in  the  same  page,  and  the 
thing  is  plain  enough. 

But  though  the  killing  of  the  second  company  is  sufficiently  attested 
by  this  passage  in  ch.  xiii.  15,  I  rest  the  fiict — that  they  were  seen  in  our 
vision  as  killed  persons — not  so  much  upon  that  passage  as  upon  the  in- 
timations of  the  sixth  chapter.  In  reply  to  the  passage  from  ch.  xiii.  it 
may  be  said  that  though  the  beast  was  a  persecuting  power,  and  killed, 
when  he  could,  such  as  refused  subjection  to  him,  it  cannot  be  alleged 
that  none  escaped  ;  and  therefore  we  have  no  evidence  that  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  beast  in  our  vision  were  the  killed  ones.  But  this  escape  ia 
cut  off  by  the  vision  in  ch.  vi.,  which  expressly  tells  the  first  company 
that  they  should  get  judgment  when  the  second  company  should  ba 
*^  killed  as  ihey  were ;"  and  as  both  companies  are  seen  in  our  vision  get- 
ting judgment  together,  the  martyr  character  of  both  companies  is  put 
beyond  doubt. 

The  reviewer's  argument  against  Mr.  Elliott  is  most  close  and  con« 
vincing. 


250  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

the  first  and  last  clauses  of  the  passage — the  one  referring 
us  to  those  about  to  be  described,  and  the  other  to  these  as 
already  described — tie  us  down  to  the  very  parties  specified 
in  the  two  middle  clauses  of  the  passage,  and  necessitate  the 
restriction  of  the  whole  to  the  slain  witnesses  of  Christ. 

In  this  view  of  the  vision,  it  is  utterly  inadequate  to  ex- 
press the  resurrection  of  the  whole  Church  of  God  bodily 
from  the  grave.  I  think  every  one  must  see  this.  The 
amazing  contrast  between  the  all-comprehensive  idea  to  be 
expressed,  and  the  rigidly  limited  expression  of  it,  if  such 
it  were,  would  prevent  any  cautious  interpreter  from  recog- 
nizing it  in  the  passage.  And  is  it  conceivable  that  the 
Spirit  of  God,  supposing  him  to  have  reserved  the  an- 
nouncement of  a  prior  resurrection  of  the  righteous  to  one 
single  passage  at  the  end  of  the  canon  of  revelation,  and 
intending  this  vision  to  be  the  one  formal  announcement  of 
it,  has  selected  such  a  mode  of  revealing  it  that  only  an 
inconsiderable  few  out  of  the  whole  Church  of  Christ  have 
been  able  to  detect  it — that  those  few  are  not  able  to  assign 
satisfactory  reasons  for  the  conclusion  at  which  they  have 
arrived — and  that  the  more  closely  every  clause  of  the  pas- 
sage is  investigated,  the  more  sternly  are  we  forbidden,  by 
all  the  admitted  rules  of  interpretation,  to  put  that  con- 
struction upon  it  1 

But  what  is  fatal  to  the  literal  sense  is  eminently  favour- 
able to  the  figurative.  Need  I  ask  any  one  familiar  with 
the  figurative  language  of  Scripture,  and  with  the  scriptural 
figuration  of  this  very  period,  familiar  with  the  best  writers 
in  every  language  and  every  age,  or  himself  accustomed  to 
think  and  speak  in  vivid  style,  whether  a  rei^urrection  oj 
the  slain  witnesses  of  Christ  of  every  period,  to  pecple,  possess, 
and  hold  the  supremacy  of  the  earth  with  their  Lord,  be  not 
a  conception  worthy  of  the  Spirit  of  God  to  dictate,  and 


FIGURATIVE EIGHTH    ARGUMENT.  ^1 

inexpressibly  refreshing  for  the  soul  of  an  oppressed  Church 
to  be  filled  with  ? 

I  have  said  that  this  idea  is  familiar  to  the  Scripture. 
In  this  very  book,  the  figurative  resurrection  of  the  wit- 
nesses for  the  truth  is  thus  expressed : — 

"  And  after  three  days  and  an  half,  the  Spirit  of  life  from  God  en- 
tered into  them,  and  they  stood  upon  their  feet." — (Rev.  xi. 
11.) 
It  is  indeed  part  of  the  classic  style  of  Scripture  in  de- 
picting this  very  millennial  period.     Thus,  Will  the  Jews 
be  brought  in  ? 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  Behold,  0  my  people,  I  will  opkn  your 

GRAVES,  AND  CAUSE  YOU  TO  COME  UP  OUT  OP  YOUR  GRAVES,  and 

bring  you  into  the  land  of  Israel.  And  ye  shall  know  that  I 
am  the  Lord,  when  I  have  opened  your  graves,  and  brought 
you  up  out  of  your  graves,  and  shall  put  my  Spirit  in  you, 
and  ye  shall  live  ;  and  I  will  place  you  in  your  o\vn  land." — 
(Ezek.  xxxvii.  12-14.) 
"  After  two  days  will  he  revive  us ;  in  the  third  day  he  will  raise 
us  UP,  and  we  shall  live  in  his  sight." — (Hos.  vi.  2.) 

This  certainly  is  figurative.  Then,  Will  this  resurrec- 
tion of  Israel  be  a  mighty  blessing  to  the  Gentile  world  ? 

"  What  shall  the  receiving  of  them  be  but  life  from  the  dead  1" 
As  to  the  return  of  a  prodigal  it  is  said,  "  He  was  dead 
and  is  alive  again  ;"  and  as  of  the  change,  in  respect  of 
justification,  which  passes  upon  the  believer,  it  is  said,  "  He 
shall  not  come  into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from 
DEATH  UNTO  LIFE  ;"  and  of  sandijication,  that  he  is  ••  quick- 
ened who  was  DEAD  in  trespasses  and  in  sins  ;"  so  it  is  said 
of  the  Church — 

"  Thy  dead  men  shall  live,"  &c,  ;  just  as  it  is  said  of  the  opposite 
party,  "They  are  dead,  they  shall  not  live;  they  are  de- 
ceased, thoy  shall  not  rise  :  To  this  end  bast  thou  visited 
and  destroyed  them,  and  m^ade  all  memory  of  them  to 
perish.' '—(Isa.  xxvi.  19,  14.) 


252  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

Thus  have  we  the  very  period  of  our  vi^-ion  stamped 
tiiroughout  Scripture  as  a  glorious  era  of  resiisc'Uation. 

I  have  said  further,  that  this  idea  is  current  coin  in 
all  vivid  thinking,  in  every  age  and  language. 

"When  the  venerable  priest,"  says  Merle  D^Aib'jne,  speaking 
of  John  Huss,  "had  been  summoned  by  Sigismaui's  order  be- 
fore the  Council  of  Constance,  and  had  been  throwa  into  prison, 
the  chapel  of  Bethlehem,  in  which  he  had  proclaimed  the  gospel 
and  the  future  triumphs  of  Christ,  occupied  his  mind  much  more 
than  his  own  defence.  One  night  the  holy  martyr  saw  in  ima- 
gination, from  the  depths  of  his  dungeon,  the  pictures  of  Christ 
that  he  had  painted  on  the  walls  of  his  oratory  effaced  by  the 
pope  and  his  bishops.  This  vision  distressed  him  ;  but  on  the 
next  day  he  saw  many  painters  occupied  in  restoring  these 
figures  in  greater  number  and  in  brighter  colours.  As  soon  as 
their  task  was  ended,  the  painters,  who  were  surrounded  by  an 
immense  crowd,  exclaimed,  '  Now  let  the  popes  and  bishops 
come,  they  shall  never  efface  them  more  !'  And  many  people 
rejoiced  in  Bethlehem,  and  I  with  them,  adds  John  Huss. 
'  Busy  yourself  with  your  defence  rather  than  with  your  dreams,' 
said  his  faithful  friend,  the  knight  of  Chlum,  to  whom  he  had 
communicated  this  vision.  '  I  am  no  dreamer,'  replied  Huss ;  '  but  I 
maintain  this  for  certain,  that  the  image  of  Christ  will  never  be 
effaced.  They  have  wished  to  destroy  it,  but  it  shall  be  paint- 
ed afresh  in  all  hearts  by  much  better  preachers  than  myself. 
The  nation  that  loves  Christ  will  rejoice  at  this.     And  I,  awaking 

FROM    AMONG    THE    DEAD,  AND    RISING,    SO   tO   SpCak,    FROM    MY   GRAVE, 
SHALL  LEAP  WITH  GREAT  JOY."* 

Mr.  Elliott  mentions  that  a  medal  exists,  representing 
Huss  at  the  stake,  and  having  this  legend  round  it,  Centum 
revoluiis  annis,  Deo  respondebilis  et  mihi — '•  When  a  hundred 
years  shall  have  revolved,  ye  shall  answer  to  God  and  to 

ME."t 

*  History  of  the  Refonnation  in  the  Sixteenth  Century,  Vol.  i.  p.  93. 
Oliver  and  Boyd.     1S46, 

t  As  this  is  noticed  here  to  illustrate  the  language  only,  it  is  of  no  cod* 
■equence  whether  tk .3  coin  was  struck  before  or  after  the  Refurmalion. 


FIGURATIVE EIGHTH    ARGUMENT.  253 

He  also  refers  to  a  Brief  addressed  by  Pope  Adrian,  in 
1523,  to  the  Diet  at  Nuremberg,  containing  these  words : — 
"  The  heretics  Huss  and  Jerome  are  now  alive  again 

IN    THE    PERSON    OF    MaRTIN    LuTHER."  * 

By  the  way,  these  last  illustrations  supply  a  complete 
answer  to  the  only  plausible  argument  that  I  have  met 
with  against  the  figurative  sense  of  our  vision.  "  Surely, 
it  is  said,  the  resurrection  must  correspond  with  the  death. 
If  the  one  be  figurative,  so  may  the  other;  but  if  the 
death  be  literal — as  we  have  admitted  to  be  the  case  with 
both  the  martyr-companies  in  this  vision — then  must  the 
resurrection  be  the  same."  This  argument  is  adduced  by 
all  literalists  as  triumphant.  But  though  the  'principle  of 
it  is  undoubtedly  correct,  Mr.  Elliott,  who  among  others 
urges  it  with  his  accustomed  force,  has,  in  the  above  illus- 
tration, himself  furnished  enough  to  show  that  it  is  point- 
less in  the  present  case.  John  Huss,  before  his  death, 
anticipated  the  day  when,  "  awakening  from  among  the 
deadj  and  rising  from  his  grave,  he  would  leap  with  great 
joy."  Suppose,  then,  I  were  to  reason-thus  :  "  A  resurrec- 
tion ought  to  be  of  the  same  character  with  the  death  from 
which  it  is  a  revival :  but  Huss's  death  was  literal  and 
personal ;  therefore  it  must  have  been  his  own  literal  and 
bodily  resurrection  which  he  anticipated  on  the  eve  of  his 
death."  Was  it  so,  then  ?  No,  it  was  not.  Did  Huss, 
then,  expect  no  resurrection  of  himself  personally  1  Of 
course  he  did ;  but  that  was  not  the  burden  of  his  thoughts 
at  the.  time.  He  was  filled  with  the  thought  of  the  even- 
tual triumph  of  the  truth  he  was  dying  for,  and  that  was 
the  resurrection  of  himself  \f\\\chi  he  so  joyfully  anticipated. 
Take  now  the  other  case.  Pope  Adrian  said  to  the  Diet  at 
Nuremberg,  "  The  heretics  Huss  and  Jerome  are  now 
alive   again  in  the   person   of   Martin  Luther."     But  the 

♦  Hot  .  Apoc.  ut  supra,  i; .  394. 


254  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

death  which  Huss  and  Jerome  died  was  a  literal  and  bodily 
one  :  shall  we  therefore  say  that  Adrian  meant  to  tell  the 
Diet  that  Huss  and  Jerome  were  not  figuratively,  but  lit- 
erally and  personally  alive  in  Martin  Luther.  Absurd. 
It  is  true,  that  Huss  and  Jerome  were  literally  slain,  just  as 
the  witnesses  in  our  vision  were  ;  but  as  this  did  not  in  the 
least  prevent  either  Huss  or  himself  anticipating  a  glorious 
resurrection  in  the  person  of  his  successors  in  the  faith,  nor 
the  enemies  of  both  from  testifying  that  they  had  risen  and 
were  actually  living  in  the  man  who  of  all  others  best 
represented  them,  so  neither  does  it  hinder  us  from  seeing 
in  this  vision  the  same  figurative  resurrection  of  the  slain 
witnesses  of  Jesus  in  the  millennial  day.  The  only  differ- 
ence is,  that  what  was  realized  at  the  Reformation,  in 
Luther  and  his  compeers,  was  but  as  a  drop  in  the  bucket 
— ''  the  little  cloud  as  a  man's  hand" — compared  with  the 
millennial  resuscitation,  not  only  in  point  of  numbers,  but 
the  completeness  of  the  triumph.  For  while  Huss  and 
Jerome,  as  witnesses  for  Christ,  were  put  completely  down 
by  the  anti-christian 'party  in  their  day.  Luther  and  his  co- 
adjutors at  the  Reformation  were  not  able  to  put  them 
completely  down  in  their  turn.  But  at  the  time  of  our 
vision,  the  witnesses  for  Christ  of  every  age  shall  not  only 
"  live  and  reign"  in  their  successors  "  for  a  thou.sand 
years,"  but  ^-the  rest  of  the  dead  (the  opposing  party)  will 
Live  not  again  until  the  thousand  years  shall  be  fulfilled — 
This  is  the  first  resurrection."  And  "  blessed"  surely, 
"  shall  be  he"  whose  lot  is  cast  in  such  times,  and  "  holy 
shall  he  be  that  hath  part  in  this  first  resurrection" — repre- 
senting in  his  person  the  noble  army  of  martyrs,  yet  with- 
out being  exposed,  as  they  were,  to  be  crushed  and  swept 
off  the  stage,  merely  because  Jesus  and  his  truth  were 
dearer  to  them  than  life  itself! 

IX.   My  last  argument  against  the  literal  sense  appears 


FIGFRATIVE NINTH     ARGUMENT.  255 

to  me  of  itself  to  settle  the  meaning  of  the  vision.  It 
can  offer  no  consistent  explanation  of  the  ''•judgment  that 
was  given  unto  "  the  slain  martyrs.  What  judgment  was 
this?  Clearly  the  same  that  the  first  company  of  them 
sought^  and  were  assured  they  would  get  as  soon  as  the 
second  company  were  ready  to  receive  it  along  with  them 
— '•  How  long,  0  Lord,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge 
OUR  BLOOD  ON  THEM  THAT  DWELL  ON  the  earth  ? "  If  the 
two  words  "  judge  "  and  •'  avenge  "  here  do  not  mean  pre- 
cisely the  same  thing — the  latter  being  explanatory  of  the 
former — they,  at  least,  mean  things  inseparable  from  each 
other,  and  to  be  received  at  one  and  the  same  time. 
When  *■  it  was  said  unto  them,  that  they  should  rest  yet  a 
little  longer  until  "  the  other  company  •'  should  be  killed 
as  they  were "' — the  meaning  is.  "  Judgment  shall  be  given 
unto  you,  and  your  blood  shall  be  avenged  on  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth,"  when  that  period  arrives.  Accord- 
ingly, when  our  millennial  vision  says,  "  I  saw  judgment 
given  unto  them  " — the  martyr  companies — it  is  impossible, 
I  think,  to  doubt  that  the  meaning  is, ' "  I  saw  the  Lord 
fulfilling  his  pledge  to  the  souls  under  the  altar, — I  saw 
him  judging  and  avenging  their  blood — and  the  blood  of  the 
other  company  along  with  them — on  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earih.^^  If  this  be  correct,  of  course  the  slain^  and  those 
who  slew  them,  must  be  taken  in  the  same  sense.  If  the 
judgment  is  to  be  given  unto  the  martyrs  personally  at  the 
millennium,  their  blood  must  also  be  personally  avenged  on 
them  that  dwell  on  the  earth.  If  the  martyrs  are  to  rise 
bodily  from  their  graves,  in  order  that  judgment  may  be 
personally  given  to  them,  then  their  persecutors,  every  one 
of  them,  must  be  raised  from  their  graves,  to  have  vengeance 
rendered  to  them  for  the  blood  of  those  dear  saints  which 
they  shed.  If  Paul,  for  example,  was  seen  in  this  millen- 
nial vision  having  "judgment  given  to  him"   in  his  in* 


256  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

dividual  person,  why  is  not  Nero  here  also,  to  have  apos- 
tolic '•  blood  avenged  upon  him  ?"  If  Ignatius,  why  not 
also  Trajan  ?  If  Justin,  and  Polycarp^  and  the  blessed 
martyrs  of  Lyons  and  Vienne,  why  is  not  the  mild  and 
lauded  Marcus  Antoninus  confronted  with  them  in  this 
"judicial,"  -'blood-avenging"  resurrection?  Why.  in  a 
word,  is  not  the  long  line  of  bloody  emperors,  and  their 
more  guilty  minions,  arrayed  in  person  before  the  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus,  of  whom  the  world 
was  not  worthy,  whose  blood  they  poured  out  like  water, 
with  little  intermission,  for  three  hundred  years  ?  On  all 
just  principles  of  interpretation,  if  the  cry  for  -'judgment" 
and  •'  vengeance  ox  their  enemies "  is  to  bring  up  the 
martyrs  in  their  persons  at  the  millennium,  the  same  cry 
ought  to  bring  up  their  enemies  in  person  along  with  them, 
for  their  part  of  the  judgment.  So  with  respect  to  the 
second  class — after  whose  slaughter  the  whole  army  of 
martyrs  is  to  be  judged — if  the  Lord's 

"  Slaughtered  saints,  whose  bones 
Lie  scattered  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold," 

are  personally  to  appear  in  this  millennial  resurrection, 
why  not  also 

"  The  bloody  Piedmontese,  that  rolled 
Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks"  1 

And  shall  the  seventy  thousand  dear  French  Christiana 
that  perished  in  three  days — to  the  eternal  infamy  of  the 
Church  of  Rome — rise  from  their  graves  for  -judgment" 
at  the  millennium,  and,  while  looking  for  the  avenging  of 
their  blood  on  them  that  shed  it,  shall  they  miss  the 
bloody  Guises,  and  that  Man  of  Sin  who,  from  his  throne  ou 
the  seven  hills,  caused  a  medal  to  be  struck  in  honour  of 
this  fearful  slaughter  of  the  Huguenots  ? 

Certain  it  is,  that   the  judgment  which  John  saw  the 


FIGURATIVE NINTH    ARGUMENT.  2151 

martyrs  get,  brings  up  not  one  of  the  persecutors  in  iheir 
individual  persons.  Have  the  martyrs  been  deceived, 
then  ?  Having  asked  bread,  have  they  gotten  a  stone  ? 
No.  but  you  misinterpret  their  petition.  The  ihmg  granted 
shows  what  we  are  to  understand  by  the  thing  asked. 
They  get  'judgment"  on  the  cause  that  slew  them.  That, 
therefore,  is  the  judgment  sought.  It  is  just  the  testimony 
of  Jesus,  once  slain  in  the  martyrs,  at  length  living  in  their 
millennial  successors — trodden  once,  but  now  triumphant 
Listen  to  the  following  words  of  the  18th  chapter  :  "  Re 
joice  over  her  (over  Babylon),  thou  heaven,  and  ye  saints  and 
apostles  and  prophets  ;  *  for  God  hath  avenged  you  on  her^* 
(v.  20).  "  Reward  her  even  as  she  rewarded  yov)''  (v.  6). 
And  again,  in  the  19th  chapter,  "  He  hath  judged  the  great 
whore,  which  did  corrupt  the  earth  with  her  fornication, 
and  hath  avenged  the  blood  of  his  servants  at  her  hand^^ 
(v.  2).  Here  you  have  both  parties  together — the  party 
avenged^  namely,  "  the  saints  and  apostles  and  prophets," 
from  the  beginning  ;  and  the  party  "  on  whom  God  hath 
avenged  them,"  namely,  Babylon,  the  harlot- Church, 
in  its  destruction.  It  is  simply  the  fall  of  this  anti-chris- 
tian,  cursed,  bloody  system,  that  is  meant.  Over  her  ruin 
the  whole  Church  of  God,  of  every  age,  and  especially 
those  who  fell  under  her  murderous  policy,  are  called  to 
rejoice,  as  if  personally  avenged  in  the  destruction  of  that 
which  destroyed  them. 

I  am  far  from  denying  that  this  righting  of  the  cause  of 
Christ  and  his  enemies  involves  an  ultimate  resurrection  of 
the  persons  of  all  on  either  side — to  everlasting  life  in  the 
one  case,  and  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt  in  the 
other.  In  this  sense,  the  millennial  state,  as  being  the 
next  stage  and  the  nearest  resemblance  to  the  eternal  state, 

*  Kai  0  before  an-  vt.  in  all  the  critical  editions. 
y3 


258  MILLENNIAL    RESURRECTION 

is  described  in  the  Old  Testament  prophets  in  language 
which  in  the  Apocalypse  is  appropriated,  with  slight  eieva« 
tion  of  strain,  to  the  everlasting  state.  But  if  you  raise  the 
platform  of  the  vision  on  the  one  side  into  the  celestial 
and  eternal  region,  by  bringing  up  the  martyrs  into  glory 
at  the  millennium,  you  must  not  sink  the  platform  on  the 
other  side,  by  leaving  the  persecutors  to  rot  quietly  in  their 
graves  for  a  thousand  years  more.  This  is  a  clumsy  ex- 
pedient, which  creates  more  difficulties  than  it  removes, 
and  in  the  case  of  our  vision,  fails,  as  we  have  seen,  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  text. 

To  put  this  argument,  then,  in  a  single  sentence,  the 
"judging"  and  '-avenging,"  if  not  precisely  the  same 
thing,  plainly  go  together — as  in  the  petition,  so  in  the  be- 
stowment :  the  thing  meant  is  one  and  the  same  interposi- 
tion in  favour  of  the  one  party  and  against  the  other ; 
with  reference  to  the  cause  at  the  millennium,  and  at  the 
great  day  with  reference  to  the  persons^  when  all  who  have 
had  any  thing  to  do  in  the  conflict  shall  "  go  to  their  own 
place." 

Thus  have  I  examined  this  celebrated  passage  both 
presumptively  and  directly,  both  generally  and  in  detail. 
Though  I  have  adduced  some  considerations  which,  even 
before  examining  the  passage,  seemed  to  bear  very  harH 
against  the  literal  sense,  it  will  not  be  said  that  I  took  ad- 
vantage of  these  to  prejudge  the  question.  1  ][iave  rejected 
some  arguments  in  favour  of  the  figurative  sense  which 
did  not  appear  to  be  tenable,  as  proceeding  upon  a  mis- 
taken apprehension  of  what  the  vision  really  was  ;  and 
while  I  have  freely  availed  myself  of  the  observations  of 
others  on  both  sides,  I  have  presented  the  whole  in  the 
light  in  which  it  rose  before  my  own  mind.  Some  of  the 
arguments  which  I  have  advanced  appear  to  me  decisive 


FIGURATIVE SUMMARY.  259 

of  themselves  ;  but  taking  the  whole  nine  arguments  to- 
gether. I  believe  the  conclusion  to  which  they  lead — that 
the  millennial  is  a  figurative,  not  a  literal  resurrection — 
cannot  be  overthrown. 

And  this  is  the  "  seaO^  of  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection 
of  the  righteous  a  thousand  years  before  the  wicked.  If 
this,  now,  be  dislodged — and  the  confirmations  of  it  else- 
where were  found  to  be  none — the  whole  doctrine  falls, 
and  with  it,  of  course,  the  pre-millennial  theory  itself, 
which  absolutely  depends  upon  it* 

*  Mr.  Bilks,  in  his  "Four  Prophetic  Empires"  (Appendix  II.),  gives 
an  elaborate  and  acute  reply  to  certain  objections  which  liad  been 
taken  to  his  Lent  Lecture  on  "  the  First  Resurrection,"  by  the  Rev.  E. 
G.  Marsh,  and  sets  himself  further  to  strengthen  his  position.  With 
every  disposition  to  weigh  well  what  so  candid  and  forcible  a  writer 
advances  (part  of  which  Mr,  Birks  will  see  does  not  apply  to  any  thing 
that  1  have  urged)  I  find  nothing  in  these  observations  of  his  which 
has  not  been  suflBciently  met,  as  1  humbly  think,  in  the  foregoing  chain 
of  argument. 

I  take  this  opportunity  of  inserting  an  extract,  which  should  have 
been  reprinted  from  my  foriner  edition,  but  was  omitted  in  its  proper 
place.  Bishop  Newton  says,  "  We  should  be  cautious  and  tender  of 
making  the  first  resurrection  an  allegory,  lest  others  should  reduce  the 
second  into  an  allegory  too." 

"In  answer,"  says  /Vas-er  (of  Kirkhill),  "  I  would  observe  that  the  Scripture* 
frequently  mention  the  second  or  new  birth.  The  first  birth  is  that  of  the  body. 
Is  it  necessary  that  the  second  should  be  so  too  7  Will  any  man,  acquainted  with 
the  Scriptures,  put  the  question  now  which  Nicodemus  formerly  projjosed  to  our 
Lord,  '  How  can  a  man  be  born  again  wlien  he  is  oldl  Can  he  enter  the  second 
time  into  his  mother's  womb,  and  be  born  {' — (John  iii.  4.)  Tlie  second  birth  is 
doubtless  an  allegory.  But  does  it  follow  that  the  first  birth  is  an  allegory  too  7  The 
Scriptures  mention  the  second  death  ;  now  the  first  death  is  that  of  the  body.  But 
is  it  necessary  that  we  understand  the  second  death  of  the  body  only  ?  Does  it 
affect  the  body  in  the  same  manner,  by  putting  it  in  a  state  of  insensibility  and 
putrefaction?  The  terms  first  and  second  are  used  in  Scripture  to  distinguish 
eubjects  which  are  in  some  respects  similar,  but  in  others  are  very  diflferent,  lest 
we  should  mistake  the  one  for  the  other;  and  so  the  term  'first  resurrection'  is 
used  here  to  show  that  this  part  of  the  prophecy  does  not  describe  such  a  change 
as  shall  take  place  at  the  general  resurrection.  Again,  it  may  signify,  that  as  the 
first  death  is  to  wicked  men  an  earnest  of,  and  a  preparatory  step  to,  the  second 
death  ;  so  tiie  first  resurrection  is  to  good  men  an  earnest  of,  and  preparatory  step 
to,  the  general  resurrection."* 

♦  Key  to  the  Prophecies,  (1795),  pp.  408,  409. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

judgment of  righteous  and  wicked  together at 

Christ's  coming. 

There  is  no  department  of  divine  truth  more  deeply  and 
dangerously  affected  by  the  pre-millennial  scheme  than  that 
which  relates  to  the  judgment.  It  is  not  the  mere  divi- 
sion into  two  parts  of  what  the  word  of  God  represents  as 
one  undivided  scene  ;  it  is  not  the  separation  into  two  periods j 
distant  from  each  other  by  the  space  of  a  thousand  years, 
of  what  Scripture  holds  forth  as  one  unbroken  piece  of  divine 
procedure ;  but  it  is,  that  it  mixes  up  with  the  judgment 
what  has  nothing  to  do  with  it,  that  it  takes  out  of  the 
judgment  some  of  its  essential  features,  and  that  for  a  large 
portion  of  the  human  race  it  provides  no  judgment  at  all. 

Finding  it  impossible  to  deny  that  the  immediate  purpose 
of  Christ's  Second  Coming  is  to  judge  the  world,  and  post- 
poning the  last  judgment  till  a  thousand  years  after  his 
coming,  they  require  to  find  judicial  employment  for  tiie 
Saviour,  onwards  from  the  time  of  his  coming  till  the  period 
of  final  judgment  arrive.  For  this  purpose,  the  expedient — 
first  devised  by  Mede^  if  I  mistake  not — has,  with  modern 
pre-millennialists,  found  universal  favour,  by  which  the 
judgment-day  is  spread  over  the  whole  thousand  years.  In 
justification,  or  at  least  illustration,  of  this,  the  words  oi 
Peter  are  usually  quoted,  •'  A  thousand  years  are  with  the 
Lord  as  one  day."  Of  this  long  day,  the  period  of  Christ's 
coming  is  the  morning^  while  the  end  of  the  millennium  is 


THE    JUDGMENT MR.    BROOKS*    VIEW    OF    IT.      261 

the  evening ;  and  throughout  the  whole  of  it,  but  especially 
the  morning  and  evening  divisions  of  it,  judicial  work  is 
found  for  the  Saviour. 

Mr.  Brooks  thus  represents  the  work  of  the  day  : — 

"  The  single  idea  entertained  of  the  judgment  by  most  persons  is, 
that  it  will  be  a  great  assize,  at  which  the  Lord  Jesus  will  preside, 
and  all  mankind  be  put  upon  their  trial.  But  the  characteristics  ot 
a  judge,  as  given  in  the  Scriptures,  are  as  follows — to  rule  and  govern 
as  a  king,  to  deliver  and  avenge  his  people,  and  to  protect  and  defend 
them  from  their  enemies;  whence  it  follows  that  the  judgment  of 
Christ  must  consist,  not  only  in  vengeance  and  punishment,  but 
also  in  government  and  rule,  and  that  the  Lord  must  consequently 
act  the  King  in  this  his  character  as  judge."  After  several  re- 
ferences to  places  where  the  words  judge  and  judgment  are  used 
in  this  extended  sense,  he  adds,  "  The  chief  prophecies  which 
relate  to  Christ  as  a  judge,  and  to  the  judgment  he  will  execute, 
will  further  demonstrate  that  princely  rule  and  government  are  to 
be  the  special  characteristics  of  his  judgment,  and  that  it  will  be  a 
continued  office  among  or  over  the  nations."  A  little  further 
on,  he  says,  "  Another  important  feature  of  the  judgment  is  the 
vengeance  of  the  Lord  upon  his  own  and  his  people's  enemies ;  for 
all  this,  and  the  gathering  out  of  his  kingdom  every  thing  that 
offends  and  does  iniquity,  is,  in  my  apprehension  of  it,  included 
in  THE  JUDGMENT.  The  period  of  judgment  must  consequently  com- 
prehend those  tremendous  visitations  or  vials  of  wrath  which  pre- 
cede the  millennium,  the  whole  time  of  the  saints'  rule,  and  that  final 
visitation  of  the  wicked  which  occurs  at  the  expiration  of  the  mil- 
lennium."* 

Now  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  words  "judge" 
and  "judgment"  are  used  in  Scripture,  both  in  the  sense 
of  exercising  kingly  rule  and  in  the  sense  of  inflicting  pub- 
lic vengeance.  But  the  question  is,  Are  these  the  senses  in 
which  Christ  will  come  to  judge  at  the  great  day  ?  I  say, 
emphatically.  No ;  and  nothing  but  the  most  violent  dis- 
tortion of  all  the  passages  which  announce  that  coming  to 

•  Elem.  of  Proph.  Interp.  pp.  207,  208,  217. 


THE    JUDGMENT 

judgment,  can  bring  these  senses  of  the  terms  into  the  pro- 
cedure of  that  day. 

For  what  are  those  things  which,  it  is  alleged,  belong  to 
the  judgment  of  the  great  day.  and  are  its  special  charac- 
teristics ?  The  answer  is.  Rule  over  nations,  and  vengeance 
inflicted  upon  public  bodies,  of  one  sort  or  other :  whereas 
the  essence  of  the  judgment  which  Christ  comes  for,  is  a 
judgment  upon  individual  persons,  in  which  "  the  secrets 
of  the  heart"  are  brought  out,  weighed,  and  decided  upon 
for  ever.  But  you  say,  We  hold  that  too ;  we  take  both 
in.  I  answer,  You  do  in  words ;  but  in  reality,  or  to  any 
practical  purpose,  you  neither  do  nor  can  include  both  in 
one  judgment.  Let  any  one  try  it  in  his  own  mind,  let  any 
minister  try  it  in  his  preaching,  and  he  will  quickly  find 
the  truth  of  what  I  say.  The  two  things  are  so  perfectly 
different — ^judgments  upon  pnhlic  masses  of  men,  and  judg- 
ment upon  individual  souls  of  men — temporal  judgments, 
and  what  Scripture  (with  an  emphasis  which  speaks  vol- 
umes here)  calls  ''-  eternal  judgment,^^  not  to  speak  of -'kingly 
government,"  which  also  they  say  they  take  in ;  these 
things  are  so  different  from  each  other,  and  they  suggest 
so  different  a  train  of  thought,  that  the  mind  cannot  get 
bold  of  them  all  together — cannot  put  them  into  one  un- 
mixed conception.  They  will  ever  befalling  asunder.  They 
want  unity,  and  wanting  this,  that  riveting  and  absorbing 
power  which  the  single  word  judgment^  on  the  ordinary 
view  of  it,  possesses,  is  wanting  also. 

But  another  difficulty  arises  here  as  to  these  public  chas- 
tisements,— these  inflictions  of  temporal  yengedince,  carrying 
with  them  the  temporal  destructio?i,  it  is  alleged,  of  vast 
numbers  of  Christ's  enemies.  Since  they  certainly  are  not 
of  the  nature  of  an  "  assize,"  in  which  the  individual  vic- 
tims   of   that  temporal  destruction  are  '•  put   upon   their 


MR.    DALLAS*    VIEW    OF    IT.  263 

trial/'  one  naturally  asks.  Is  this  all  the  judgment  ;hey  are 
ever  to  nndergo?  If  so.  here  is  all  judicial  trial  of  stuck 
persons,  except  in  the  loosest  sense,  given  up ;  and  if  in 
the  case  of  so  many,  why  not  of  all  ?  *  But  if  you  say, 
These  pre-millennial  judgments,  with  which  the  coming  of 
the  Lord  is  to  be  ushered  in.  are  altogether  independent  of 
the  personal  judgment  of  the  individuals  involved  in  them, 
which  will  remain  still  to  be  gone  through  against  them  at 
the  final  judgment  of  the  wicked — this  is  to  give  up  your 
own  principle.  You  made  the  pre-millennial  judgments 
part  of  the  judgment  of  the  great  day  ;  and  yet,  conscious 
that  this  would  never  suffice,  and  as  if  no  judgment  had 
taken  place  on  the  parties  involved  in  them,  you  bring 
them  up  to  the  judgment  over  again  in  the  only  true  and 
proper  way.  In  this  a  manageable  and  self-consistent 
view  of  the  judgment? 

One  of  the  best  illustrations  of  the  impracticability  of 
the  scheme  on  this  head,  we  have  in  the  comments  of  pre- 
millennialists  upon  the  judgment  recorded  in  the  twenty- 
fifth  chapter  of  Matthew  As  righteous  and  wicked  appear 
there  before  one  tribunal,  and  the  pre-millennial  scheme 
will  not  admit  of  that,  the  problem  is,  how  to  get  over  it. 
The  view  given  of  it  by  Mr.  Dallas,  strange  to  say,  is  not 
confined  to  himself. 

"  When  the  Son  of  Man  shall  (at  the  opening  of  the  millen- 
nium) sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory,  before  him  shall  be  gather- 

♦  So  very  loosely  do  some  write  on  this  awful  subject,  that  in  the 
very  paragraphs  in  which  they  are  speaking  of  "  the  judgment  of  the 
quick,"  or  living,  as  a  persona/ judgment  of  the  living  wicked  as  well  as 
righteous,  they  tell  us,  that  "  remnants  of  such  shall  be  spared  in  the 
judgment,  and  converted  by  means  of  it,  to  enter  into  the  millennial 
kingdom  in  the  flesh,  and  be  the  means  of  converting  others."  Did  ever 
any  one  hear  of  ungodly  men  standing  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ, 
and,  instead  of  being  condemned  as  such,  spared,  nay,  converted  by  thai 
very  judgment,  and  made  missionaries  to  others  ? 


284  THE    JUDGMENT 

ed"— not  "  all  nations."  as  we  render  it,  but—"  all  the  Gentiles.'^ 
They  are  not  Ckrislians,  as  is  commonly  thought,  who  put  that 
question  out  of  mere  humility,  "  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hun- 
gered and  fed  theel"  But  they  are  heathens;  and  the  question  is 
one  of  igiwrance  asking  information — as  if  some  inhabitant  of 
China  or  Japan,  he  says,  amongst  whom  had  come  a  missionary 
in  the  last  days  of  this  dispensation  and  been  persecuted,  should 
have  "  felt  constrained  to  succour  him,"  ignorant,  however, 
whose  servant  he  was;  insomuch  that  when  Jesus  should,  from 
the  throne  of  his  glory,  say  the  deed  was  done  to  Him,  pointing 
at  the  same  time  to  the  glorified  body  of  this  missionary  sitting 
on  the  throne  beside  him,  the  poor  Japanese,  still  a  mortal  maii^ 
though  standing  before  the  throne  of  Christ's  glory,  seeing  this 
missionary,  would  be  very  much  astonished  at  the  information — 
whereas,  to  a  Christian  no  such  information  would  be  required ! 
These,  then,  are  "  the  sheep,"  and  the  opposite  piece  of  inforniatian 
is  communicated  to  "  the  goats" — such  "  Gentiles,"  or  heathens,  as 
had  ill-treated  his  servants.  Now  for  the  decision.  "  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom,"  &c.  Come,  that  is, 
inherit  the  sovereignty  described  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
— have  "  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,"  &c.  "  They  are  set 
apart  as  the  new  stook  of  the  generation  of  Adam,  whom  he  will  ediicate 
for  a  thousand  years,  without  the  influence  of  the  devil  to  counteract 
the  effect  of  a  dispensation  of  sight.  The  millennial  period  seems 
the  period /w  the  education  of  the  new  stock  of  mankind  for  the  rcsf^ored 
earth."  And  what  becomes  of  the  goats  1  To  what  earthly  des- 
tiny are  they  "  set  apart )"  All  the  answer  I  can  find  is  in  these 
words,  "  They  are  lost,  condemned."  Well,  but  when  1  At  the 
beginning  of  the  millennium  1  It  is  not  said.  But  he  tells  us 
of  "  a  last  sifting,"  at  the  end  of  the  millennium,  to  secure  what 
that  millennial  education  had  done  for  the  new  stock  of  man- 
kind ;  when  Sr.tan  being  once  more  let  loose  for  a  season,  the 
chaff  of  these  "  Gentiles"  shall  be  separated  from  the  wheat, 
and  final  perdition  shall  attend  all  who  are  manifested  as  retain- 
ing any  taint  of  the  corrupt  nature.  Meanwhile  (that  is,  after 
the  last  judgment),  Jerusalem  shall  be  the  joy  and  light  of  the 
earth  ;  and  the  Jews — the  kindred  of  the  man  Jesus,  the  Son 
of  God  made  man — these  shall  all  be  holy  men  and  women  galng 
on  from  generation  to  generation  (that  is,  throughout  all  eternity,  as 
we  found  Mr.  Bickersteth  and  others  holding),  and  in  each  genera- 


MEDE,    BICKERSTETH,    BIRKS.  365 

tion,  Christians,  spiritual,  converted  people ;  while,  as  to  the  glori- 
fied members  of  tne  Church,  "wherever  the  Lord  Jesus  is,  there 
his  saints  shall  be."* 

Comment  on  this  view  of  the  judgment  in  Matthew  is 
as  superfluous  as  it  would  be  difficult.  But  you  say,  per- 
haps there  are  better  views  of  it  than  this  ;  why  detail  this 
one?  Let  us  try,  then,  the  only  other  one  I  am  ac- 
quainted with,  on  the  pre-millennial  principle  of  excluding 
a  simultaneous  judgment  of  righteous  and  wicked. 

It  is  that  of  Mede.  adopted  by  Mr.  Bickersteth  and  Mr. 
Birks.  According  to  this  view,  it  is  not  one  judgment  at 
all,  but  two — one  at  the  beginning  and  the  other  at  the  end. 
These  take  "  the  sentence  of  absolution  to  continue  all  the 
time  of  the  first  resurrection,  that  is,  all  the  thousand  years 
long.  That  once  ended  and  finished,  and  not  before,  he 
shall  proceed  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of  condemnation 
upon  such  as  are  to  be  condemned."  f 

"  The  true  and  full  view,"  says  Mr.  Bickersteth,  "  seems  to  be 
that  which  makes  it  include  the  resurrection  of  the  just  at  the 
beginning,  and  the  unjust  at  the  dose  of  the  millennial  day.  .  ,  The 
work  of  acquittal  and  mercy,  which  is  our  Lord's  delight,  is  first 
in  order;  afterwards  follows  the  sentence  of  wrath,  which  is  his 
strange  work.  We  follow  the  current  of  God's  word,  as  well  as 
the  deep  instincts  of  a  heart  and  conscience  renewed  in  love 
after  the  image  of  Christ,  in  assigning  the  sentence  of  reward 
and  mercy  to  the  morning,  and  the  sentence  of  condemnation 
to  the  evening  of  that  great  and  terrible  day."  He  thinks  this 
view  of  the  passage  is  confirmed  by  the  omission  of  the  word 
"  brethren"  in  the  case  of  the  wicked.  To  the  righteous,  it  is 
said,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  my  breth- 
ren," without  any  mention  of  the  wicked ;  whereas  to  the  wicked 
it  is  merely  said,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  unto  the  least  of  these" 
by  which  he  conceives  is  meant,  not  "  these  righteous,"  but  "  these 


*  Lent  Lect.  for  1843,  ut  supra,  No.  VIII. 
t  Mede's  Works,  p.  841. 

Z 


266  REMARKS    ON 

wicked" — each  company  standing  by  itself  and  withont  the  presence 
of  the  others,  before  the  Judge,  and  each  ''  containing  within  itself 
the  full  test  of  its  acceptance  and  its  rejection ;  the  righteous  in 
their  own  mutual  and  brotherly  love,  the  wicked  in  their  own  mutual 
hatefulness  and  hatred,"* 

Need  I  appeal  to  the  reader  whether  this  broken  judg- 
ment  does  not  utterly  break  down  the  solemn  impression 
which  the  bare  reading  of  the  scene  in  Matthew  irresistibly 
makes  upon  all  minds  Mr.  Bickersteth  himself,  than 
whom  no  man  is  more  able  to  feel  the  force  of  this  remark, 
seems  conscious  of  danger  in  this  direction.  "For  the 
purpose  (he  says)  of  clearly  enforcing  the  great  issues  of 
the  judgment,  our  Lord  brings  into  close  contrast  the  acts 
of  the  morning  and  evening  of  that  great  judgment-day. 
Further  details  would  only  have  broken  the  solemn 
IMPRESSION  OF  THE  TRUTH  taught  in  this  account  of  the 
last  judgment."  I  think  •'  the  solemn  impression  of  the 
truth  taught"  here,  is  "  broken"  sufficiently  by  the  "  de- 
tails" which  Mr.  Bickersteth  himself  introduces  into  it. 

But  this  suggests  an  important  question  :  Why  should 
"  details"  tend  to  break  up  our  solemn  impression  of  the 
judgment  ?  If  details  be  in  the  things  why  should  the 
mention  of  them  have  that  effect  ?  I  will  answer  the 
question.  The  word  of  God  represents  the  judgment,  and 
every  enlightened  conscience  instinctively  looks  forward  to 
it  as  one  unbroken  and  simultaneous  act — how  brief,  or 
how  protracted,  does  not  in  the  least  affect  this  view  of  it ; 
and  every  introduction  of  those  •'  details''  which  the  pre- 
millennial  theory  brings  into  it,  of  morning  acts  and  even- 
ing acts,  besides  the  mid-day  acts  of  '•  government  and  rule," 
is  an  intrusion  which  the  mind  will  not  tolerate,  and  can 
only  listen  to  at  the  expense  of  having  all  its  solemn  im- 
pressions of  it  dissipated. 

*  Guide,  pp.  284-286,  with  note.    Fifth  Edition. 


THESE    VIEWS    OF    THE    JUDGMENT.  261 

So  much  is  this  the  case,  that  you  cannot  take  up  a 
volume  of  sermons  in  which  the  subject  is  handled  by 
a  pre-millennialist,  and  pressed  home  upon  the  conscience, 
without  finding  that  he  proceeds  upon  the  common  view  of 
it,  laying  aside,  or,  as  much  as  possible,  keeping  away  from 
"  details,"  which  just  means  e\:try  iking  different  from  the 
ordinary  view.  I  remember  being  struck  with  this  many 
years  ago,  in  Dr.  M'Neile's  volume  of  "  Seventeen  Ser- 
mons ;"  and  his  sermon  in  the  more  recent  volume,  from 
which  I  have  repeatedly  quoted,  entitled  "  Righteous  Re- 
tribution at  the  Second  Advent,"  is  much  of  the  same  na- 
ture. In  all  its  general  descriptions  and  appeals,  it  is 
solemn  and  stirring  ;  but  in  proportion  as  pre-millennial 
"  details,"  find  their  way  into  his  statements,  the  subject  is 
lowered,  and  the  impression  diluted. 

But  we  have  a  large  class  of  men  yet  to  provide  for. 
At  what  part  of  the  great  judgment-day  do  the  myriads  of 
mankind  who  live  during  the  millennium  come  in  to  be 
judged.  NowJiere.  They  were  not  in  being  to  be  included 
in  the  acts  of  the  morning,  and  share  in  the  resurrection- 
glory  then  awarded  The  mid-day  acts  of  government  and 
rule  are  no  judicial  trial  of,  and  decision  upon,  their  per- 
sonal character  for  eternity  ;  and  the  closing  act  of  all,  at 
the  end  of  the  millennium,  which  is  the  evening  of  the  day, 
cannot  take  them  in — the  saints  among  them  at  least — for 
it  is  a  judgment  of  the  wicked  only.  The  scheme,  in  fact, 
makes  no  provision  for  their  being  jiudged  at  all.,  as  we  found 
it  made  no  provision  for  their  being  raised  at  all.  From 
this,  the  reader  will  judge  of  its  Scriptural  merits.* 

*  The  Messrs.  lionar  have  each  of  ihem  replied  to  these  observations. 
Mr.  A.  Bonar  "conceives  that  it  is  very  likely  there  shall  be  a  meeting  at 
the  great  white  throne,  which  shall  be  truly  universal.  We  lose  nothing 
of  the  advantage  supposed  to  be  found  in  this  idea.  Theri3  shall  be  a 
general  judgment  after  the  millennium.  There  shall  be  a  resurrection 
of  the  wickei! ;  and  how  immense  the  multitude,  small  and  great,  tbaf 


t^S  SIMULTANEOIS    JUDGMENT 

In  direct  contrast  with  these  most  unsatisfactory  views 
of  the  Judgment,  I  feel  persuaded  that  the  following  simple 
proposition  will  commend  itself  to  every  unprejudiced 
reader,  as  it  has  done  to  the  Church  of  God  in  all  ages,  as 
the  truth : — 

PROPOSITION  EIGHTH: 

THE      RIGHTEOUS     AND     THE    WICKED     WILL     BE     JUDGED     TO- 
GETHER,   AND    BOTH    AT    THE    COMING    OF    CHRIST. 

The  passages  which  express  this  truth  are  very  numer- 
ous, and  amongst  the  plainest  in  Scripture,  requiring,  in- 

arise  and  come  to  judgment !  But  besides  these  endless  millions  of  the 
ungodly,  there  are  present  the  happy  millions  of  the  siived,  in  their 
white  robes,  and  with  their  crowns.  For  now  is  the  season  when  that 
word  shall  be  fulfilled,  '  Do  ye  not  know  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the 
world  7'  '  Know  ye  not  that  we  shall  judge  angels?'  ....  It  is  every 
way  likely,  too,  that  on  that  day  Satan  a^id  every  lost  soul  of  all  these 
millions  shall  hear  from  the  lips  of  the  Judge  the  grounds  on  which  he 
acquitted  each  one  of  his  redeemed." — {Red.  pp.  158,  159.)  Mr.  Bonar 
here  takes  the  final  resurrection  and  judgment,  in  Rev.  xx.  11-15,  to  be 
of  the  wicked  alone.  The  righteous  are  present  as  "assesso?-s"  indeed, 
but  Mr.  Bonar  does  not  say,  and  evidently  does  not  hold,  that  they  are 
judged  then.  "  Satan  and  the  lost  hear  from  the  lips  of  the  Judge  the 
grounds  on  which  he  acquitted  each  one  of  his  redeemed,"  that  is  to  say, 
the  grounds  on  which  he  had  done  so  a  thousand  years  before.  The  fact 
of  this  long  prior  judgment,  and  the  grounds  of  it,  may  be  announced  ; 
but  the  judgment  itself  is  not  then.  And  if  so,  of  what  use  is  it  to  say, 
"  There  shall  be  a  general  judgment  after  the  millennium"  7  It  does 
homage  to  the  principle  of  a  general  judgment,  as  that  which  every  on« 
feels  to  be  a  first  principle  in  religion  ;  but  while  conceding  it  in  words^ 
it  is  not  meant  to  convey  the  belief  of  it  in  the  only  sense  in  which 
every  one  understands  such  a  statement. 

Mr.  H.  Bonar  (with  Mr.  Elliott,  iv.  223,  ut  sup.)  "is  satisfied  that  the 
scene  described  in  the  25th  of  Matthew,  which  is  supposed  to  be  an  in- 
superable barrier  [to  the  thousand  years'  interval  between  the  judgment 
of  the  rigliteous  and  the  wicked],  refers  to  those  upon  the  earth,  not  to 
risen  men  at  all.  It  is  'all  nations'  that  are  gathered  together.  It  is  the 
judgment  of  the  '  quick.'  The  scene  is  quite  different  from  that  in  the 
close  of  the  20th  of  Revelation,  where  all  the  dead  arise  from  earth  and 
sea.  And  it  resembles  most  closely  that  of  Joel  (iii.  1-15),  "  I  will  gather 
all  nations  {iravra  ra  eOvn,  in  both  passages),  and  will  bring  them  down 


SCRIPTURAL    PROOF    OF    IT.  269 

deed ,  no  comment,  except  it  be  to  show  how  forced  is  every 
other  sense  of  them. 

Matt.  X.  32,  33 :  "  Whosoever  therefore  shall  confess  me  befor« 
men,  him  will  I  confess  before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 
But  whosoever  shall  deny  me  before  men,  him  will  1  also  deny 
before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven" — {i.  e.)  "  W/ien  he  corti- 
etk  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  with  the  holy  angels." — (Mark 
viii.  38.) 
Here  the  acknowledging  of  the  one  class  and  the   dis- 
owning of  the  other  are  expressly  said  to  take  place  at  the 
same   time,    namely,    "when  Christ  comes  in  his  glory." 

into  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  .  .  .  Prochiim  ye  this  among  the  Gentiles 
(cv  T.  cBveaiv) ;    Assemble  yourselves,  and  come,  all  ye  heathen  {jiravra  r. 

tOvn  KyK^odev) Let  the  heathen  (r.  eOvri)  be  awakened  :   for   there 

will  I  sit  to  judge  all  the  heathen  round  about  (Travro  r.  eBvti  KVK\o9ev). 
....  Multitudes,  multitudes  in  the  valley  of  decision."  If  this  be  the 
case,  the  difficulty  supposed  to  be  against  us  from  this  passage  does  not 
exist— {Coining  and  Kingdom,  &c.,  p.  105.)  This  is  plainly  to  make 
the  judgment  in  Matthew  a  mere  ^emporaZ  judgment — a  judgment  against 
nations  opposing  the  kingdom,  cause,  and  people  of  God.  But  can  any 
one  take  this  in?  This  is  decidedly  the  lowest  view  of  the  judgment  in 
Matthew  which  I  have  met  with,  if  we  except  Mr.  Dallas'  already  men- 
tioned. Nor  am  I  able  to  comprehend  the  parallelism  which  Mr.  Bonai 
finds  in  Joel.  The  "  nations  "  there  are  all  of  one  class — hostile  nations — 
gathered  to  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  to  have  vengeance  executed 
against  them.  This  will  be  manifest  at  u  glance  of  the  chapter.  But 
when  Christ  sits  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory,  and  gathers  before  him 
•'  all  nations,"  he  will  "  separate  them  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep 
from  ihe goals;  receiving  the  one  to  life  eternal,  as  well  as  consigning 
the  other  to  everlasting  fire."  The  parallelism,  therefore,  is  so  far  from 
holding,  that  I  am  not  able  to  discern  one  feature  that  the  passages 
have  in  common,  save  that  ^*  all  nations'^  is  expressed  in  the  Greek  by 
the  same  two  words  in  both  places !  Mr.  Bonar,  by  the  way,  calls  this 
judgment,  as  he  expounds  it,  to  be  the  judgment  of  the  "quick." 
Does  he  mean,  then,  that  this  temporal  judgment  is  to  be  all  the  judg- 
ment that  is  ever  to  pass  upon  these  "  nations  7"  If  not,  and  these 
•' quix,if"  need  to  be  "judged"  over  again  as  "dead,"  what  has  such  a 
judgment  to  do  with  the  solemn  awards  recorded  in  the  25th  of  Matthewl 
"I  am  unable,"  continues  Mr.  H.  Bonar,  "  to  appreciate  the  force  of 
Mr.  Brov  n's  reasonings  against  the  judgment  being  broken  up  into  parta 
z2 


270  SIMULTANEOUS    JUDGMENT 

To  'imit  those  who  are  to  be  disowned  to  such  as  shall 
be  found  alive  when  Christ  comes,  so  as  to  make  it  a  judg- 
ment on  the  "  quick'^  o^ly?  is  a  direct  contradiction  of  the 
words,  '•  Whosoever  shall  deny  me,  shall  be  denied"  then, 
which  unquestionably  Christ  meant  the  deserters  of  his 
cause  in  every  age  to  take  to  themselves. 

To  this  class  of  passages  belong  the  following : — 

Rev.  xxi.  7,  8 :  "  He  that  overcometh  shall  inherit  all  things;  and 
I  will  be  his  God,  and  he  shall  be  my  son.  But  the  cowardly  * 
and  unbelieving,  &c.,  shall  have  their  portion  in  the  lake 
which  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone :  which  is  the  second 
death." 

Ch.  xxii.  12-15:    "Behold,  I  come  quickly;  and  my  reward  is 


My  conscience  may  not  be  one  of  the  'enlightened'  ones  of  which  he 
Speaks  ;  but  I  confess  I  do  not  see  how  the  breaking  up  of  the  judgment 
Into  acts  or  ■parts  will  dissipate  its  solemnity." — (Pp.  105,  106.)  This  ia 
a  point  which  I  am  very  much  disposed  to  leave  to  the  reader.  At  the 
same  time,  I  can  furnish  Mr.  Bonar  with  a  statement  on  the  subject,  to 
which — as  coming  from  his  own  side  of  the  controversy,  and  from  one 
whoin  I  have  before  remarked  as  dietinguished  for  the  candour  and 
force  with  which  he  writes — he  will  probably  attach  some  weight.  Saya 
Mr.  Birks,  "  There  are  three  decisive  objections  to  the  view  [of  this 
passage  in  Matthew]  which  refers  it  to  the  judgment  of  living  nations 
before  the  millennium  begins.  First,  the  judgment  of  the  living  haa 
been  described  in  the  previous  parables.  Secondly,  the  nations  not 
included  in  the  Church  are  not  all  gathered  together  at  the  opening  of 
the  millennium.  (Isa.  Ixvi.)  And  thirdly,  the  sentence  on  the  wicked  is 
plainly  not  the  sentence  oj"  present  death,  but  of  everlasting  judgment^ 
which  follows  the  close  of  the  millennium.  And  besides,  from  the  evident 
climax,  no  other  interpretation  answers  to  the  majesty  and  grandeub 
OF  THIS  IMPRESSIVE  DESCRIPTION.  Accordingly,  the  Church  has  uni- 
versally APPLIED  IT  to  the  decision  of  the  final  state  of  mankind.** 
—(Lent  Lect.  for  1843,  No.  VII.     Note  at  end.) 

*  Tois  Sei'Kois.  "  The  fearful,  or  coward,"  says  Durham— '^  opposite 
t  >  the  former  fighter  and  overconier."  So  Tregclles.  Luther:  Den  Ver- 
zachten  (the  dispirited).  The  same  class  that  Christ  describes  us  "  deny* 
Jng  him  before  men,"  and  "ashamed  of  him  and  his  words  in  an  adul- 
terous and  sinful  generation  " — wanting  the  courage  of  true  faith. 


SCRIPTURAT.    PROOF    OF    IT.  271 

with  me,  to  give  to  every  man  according  as  his  work  is.*  I  am 
Alpha  and  Omega,  the  First  and  the  Last,  the  Beginning  and 
the  End.f  Blessed  are  they  who  wash  their  robes,:}:  that  they 
may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in  through 
the  gates  into  the  city.  For  without  are  dogs,  and  sorcerers, 
and  whoremongers,- and  murderers,  and  idolaters,  and  whoso- 
eyer  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie." 

This  admission  of  the  one  class  and  rejection  of  the  other 
is  manifestly  the  immediate  sequel  of  Christ's  "  coming,  and 
his  reward  with  him,  to  give  to  every  one  [of  both  classes 
and  at  the  same  time]  according  to  his  work."  If  any 
doubt  of  this  could  remain,  it  would  be  removed  by 

Matt.  xvi.  24-27 :  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him 
deny  himself,"  &c.  "  For  whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall 
lose  it:  and  whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  shall 
find  it.  For  what  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  shall  gain,"  &c,  ; 
"or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  souH  For 
the  Son  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  with  his 
angels ;  and  then  (  tots  )  he  shall  reward  every  man  according  to 
his  works." 

How  is  it  possible  to  doubt  that  both  classes  and  of  aU 
ages  will  be  judged  together,  with  such  a  passage  as  this 
before  us  ? 

*  Effrij/  {Lachm.  T%sch.  Treg.)  Scholz  retains  earai. 

t  All  the  forementioned  editors  give  the  clauses  in  this  order. 

■{:  Oi  itXvvovrei  raj  aroXai  avTOJv.  This  beautiful  reading  of  the  Alex- 
andrine MS.,  of  the  Vatican  MS.  (the  one  in  cursive  letters,  known  aa 
No.  38),  and  of  the  Vulgate,  Ethiop.,  and  Armenian  versions,  is  adopted 
by  Lachmann,  Tischendorf,  and  Tregelles.  It  is  easy  to  account  for 
the  introduction  of  the  received  reading  from  the  resemblance  between 
xX-jvovT£i  (or  as  No.  38  has  it,  nXwoipres)  and  voio^vTes,  and  of  aroXag  to 
evroX  s — without  supposing  doctrinal  leanings  to  have  had  any  influence. 
Mr.  Elliott  notices  the  beautiful  reference  of  this  reading  to  chap.  vii.  9, 
13,14;  "the  state  of  heavenly  bliss  being  in  the  earlier  chapter  an/ici^ 
patively  foreshown,  and  in  the  latter  one  symbolized  as  actually  realized 
aod  present  (iv.  244,  ui.  aup.) 


272  SIMULTANEOUS    JUDGMENT 

"  Matt,  vii  21-23 :  "  Not  every  one  that  saith,  Lord,  Lord,  shall 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will 
of  ray  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  Many  will  say  to  me  in  thai 
day,  Lord,  Lord,"  &jC.  "  And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them, 
I  never  knew  you:  depart  from  me"  &c. 

Here  we  have  the  reception  and  rejection — admission 
and  exclusion — both  at  once — "  in  that  day."  Nor  can 
Mr.  Birks^  principle  of  "  sacred  perspective,"  by  which  two 
things  at  a  distance  are  seen  as  one.  and  in  this  case  at  the 
distance  of  a  thousand  years — and  "  the  little  season" 
after  that  too — be  permitted  to  intrude  here. 

To  the  same  effect,  chap.  xxv.  10:  "  And  while  the  foolish  virgins 
went  to  buy,  the  bridegroom  came ;  and  they  that  were  ready 
went  in  with  him  to  the  marriage :  and  the  door  was  shut. 
Afterward  came  also  the  other  virgins,  saying,  Lord,  Lord,* 
open  unto  us.  But  he  answered  and  said,  Verily,  1  say  unto 
you,  I  know  you  not." 

Bo  not  these  words  plainly  tell  us  that  Christ,  when  he 
comes,  will  take  judicial  account  of  the  treatment  which 
he  has  himself  received  at  the  hands  of  men — of  every  age 
and  of  both  classes — and  of  the  value  they  have  put  upon 
their  own  souls  ;  determining  the  weal  or  the  woe  of  all 
together  "  according  to  their  works  ?" 

We  have  the  same  truth  in  the  parable  of  the  Talents 
(Matt.  xxv.  14-30) — in  which  "the  man  who  travels  into 
a  far  country,"  but  before  his  departure  '•  calls  his  servants 
and  delivers  to  them  his  goods,  returns  after  a  long  time, 
and  reckons  with  them."  As  this  represents  the  departure 
and  return  of  Christ,  with  the  whole  period  of  his  absence 
from  the  earth,  so  the  "  reckoning,"  which  is  manifestly 
one  transaction^  embraces  all  the  professed  servants  of 
Christ,  from  first  to  last — not  only  the  ^' good  and  faithful^ 

*  The  same  *  vain  repetition"  (/?arToXoyia)  as  in  chap.  vii.  21,  22. 


SCRIPTURAL    PROOF    OF    IT.  273 

classes,  who,  in  the  language  of  the  parable,  having  dou- 
bled their  talents,  are  invited  to  "  enter  into  the  joy  of 
their  Lord,"  but  also  the  "  wicked  and  slothful"  or  "  un 
jyrofitable"  class,  who  are  ordered  to  be  "  cast  into  outer 
darkness,"  &c.* 

And  does  not  the  immediately  subsequent  description 
of  the  JUDGMENT  convcy  the  same  truth,  of  a  simultaneous 
judgment  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  in  language  as 
transparent  as  it  is  sublimely  worthy  of  the  scene  itself? 

Matt.  XXV.  31-46 :  "  When  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his 
glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  {rort)  shall  he 
sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory.  (Compare  chap.  xvi.  27.) 
And  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations  rf  and  he  shall 

*  "  No  doubt  the  image  underlying  this  language  i?,  that  the  master 
celebrates  his  return  by  a  great  festival,  to  which  each  of  the  servants, 
as  soon  as  he  has  rendered  his  accounts,  and  shown  that  he  has  been 
true  to  his  master's  interests  in  his  absence,  is  bidden  freely  to  enter." 
But  "  while  there  is  light  and  joy  and  feasting  within,  to  celebrate  the 
master's  return,  the  darkness  without  shall  be  the  portion  of  the  un- 
profitable servant."  — Trenc/i  on  the  Parables. 

Exet  (ffKorof  r.  •^wrcjoov)  ibi.  Extra  locuni  convivii,  lucidissimum. — 
{Bengel.) 

■\  Yiavra  ra  cdvr}.  Undoubtedly  this,  like  every  similar  expression, 
is  often  used  in  a  limited  sense.  But  in  Matt,  xxviii.  19  {wavra  r. 
t6vTi=iTao)j  Ttj  KTiaei,  Mark  xvi.  15),  and  other  places,  it  denotes  man- 
kind universally  and  individually.  To  refer,  therefore,  to  places  in 
which  it  is  employed  in  the  former  sense,  does  nothing  to  show  that  this 
is  its  meaning  here.  But  it  is  urged  that  the  test  by  which  the  parties 
are  here  tried,  is  one  which  is  applicable  only  to  professed  disciples  of 
Christ;  and  consequently  that  this  must  be  a  limited  judgment,  from 
which  ail  heathens — strangers  to  Christianity — are  excluded.  I  am 
surprised  that  such  men  as  Mr.  Elliott  should  reason  thus  (iv.  223,  ut 
supra.)  We  might  as  well  conclude  that  because  the  test  mentioned  in 
Rom.  ii.  5-11,  is  much  the  same  as  here— " obeying"  or  "not  obeying 
the  truth" — therefore  the  judgment  there  described  will  be  limited  to 
hearers  of  the  gosnel ;  whereas  the  subsequent  verses,  12-16,  show  that 
the  heathens  will  be  judged  at  the  same  lime,  though  by  a  different  rule 
of  course.     Does  not  thi  Scripture,  and  indeed  every  species  of  writing 


^1^" 


274  SIMULTANEOUS    JUDGMENT—- 

separate  them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  hit 
sheep  from  the  goats:  And  he  shall  set  the  sheep  on  his 
right  hand,  but  the  goats  on  the  left.  Then  {totc)  shall  the 
King  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand,  "  Come,  ye  blessed," 
&c.  "  Then  (rors)  shall  he  say  unto  them  on  the  left  hand, 
Dejjart  from  me.  ye  cursed,"  &c.  "  And  these  shall  go  away 
into  everlasting  punishment :  but  the  righteous  into  life  eter- 
nal," 

We  have  seen  what  efforts  are  made  to  set  aside  the  tes- 
timony of  this  passage — some  (as  Mr.  Elliott  and  Mr.  H. 
Bonar)  admitting  it  to  be  one  transaction,  but  bringing  it 
down  to  the  level  of  judgments  against  living  nations,  or 
confederacies  of  evil  ;  while  others  (as  Mr  Bickersteth 
and  Mr.  Birks).  not  prepared  for  such  a  degradation  of  the 
solemn  scene,  make  it  two  judgments — seen  in  sacred 
perspective  as  one,  but  separated  from  each  other  by  :i 
thousand  years.  Both  of  these  interpretations  are  alike 
forced.  As  the  former  destroys  the  personal  and  eternal 
character  of  the  judgment  itself,  so  the  latter  is  directly  in 
the  teeth  of  some  of  the  most  solemn  features  of  the  pas- 
sage, which  first  gathers  both  parties  before  the  throne  in  one 
mass,  at  the  summons  of  "  the  King :"  next  separates  the 
sheep  from  the  goats  ;  and  then,  having  judged  and  passed 
sentence  upon  each,  finally  disposes   of  both  accordingly  * 

epeak  of  things  as  if  they  stood  alone,  when  the  sense  merely  is,  that 
they  are  the  only  subjects  of  consideration  at  the  time ! 

*  Mr.  H.  Bonar,  though  adopting  an  explanation  of  this  scene,  which 
makes  it  one  transaction,  reasons  upon  it  exactly  as  those  do  who  make 
it  two— one  at  the  beginning  and  the  other  at  the  end  of  the  millennium 
— comparing  it  to  binary  stars,  which  though  one  to  the  naked  eye,  the 
telescope  has  resolved  into  two  (p.  107).  And  in  a  note  (No.  viii.),  he 
gathers  together  a  number  of  difficulties  in  the  way  of  sorting  the  various 
descriptions  of  the  judgment,  to  show,  I  suppose,  that  it  is  impossible 
tr  ietormine  by  them  whether  the  judgment  will  be  simultaneous  or 
not.  A  single  glance  at  the  examples  he  gives,  of  apparent  contradiction 
in  these  descriptions,  is  enough  to  show  how  very  trifling  they  are.  But 
U  is  impossible  to  go  into  such  minutiae  here. 


SCRIPTURAL    PROOF    OF    IT.  275 

The  bare  un sophisticated  reading  of  the  passage  will  do 
more,  I  believe,  to  dissipate  such  expositions  of  it  as  I  have 
mentioned  than  whole  pages  of  reasoning.  I  merely  add, 
that  commentators  of  every  description  regard  the  scene 
here  depicted  as  one  continuous  transaction. 

Here  I  introduce  a  passage  referred  to  under  the  head 
of  Resurrection  (pp.  205,  206),  but  reserved  for  comment  to 
this  head. 

Matt.  XI ii.  30,  38-43:  "Let  both  [tares  and  wheat]  grow  to- 
gether until  the  harvest :  and  in  the  time  of  harvest  I  will 
say  to  the  reapers,  Gather  ye  together  first  the  tares,  and 
bind  them  in  bundles  to  burn  them :  but  gather  the  wheat 

into  my  barn The  field  is  the  world ;  the  good  seed 

are  the  children  of  the  kingdom ;  but  the  tares  are  the  chil- 
dren of  the  wicked  one;  the  enemy  that  sowed  them  is 
the  devil ;  the  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  world ;  and  the 
reapers  are  the  angels.  As  therefore  the  tares  are  gathered 
and  burned  in  the  fire,  so  shall  it  be  in  the  end  of  the  world. 
The  Son  of  man  shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and  they  shall 
gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all  things  that  offend,  and  them 
which  do  iniquity ;  and  shall  cast  them  into  a  furnace  of  fire : 
there  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  Then  {rori) 
shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of 
their  Father." 

The  points  to  which  T  request  the  reader's  attention  here 
are  these  :  first,  that  the  judgment  spoken  of  is  at  the  very 
time  of  Christ's  coming,  as  is  admitted  on  all  hands  ;  next, 
that  not  only  are  the  tares  gathered  at  the  same  "  harvest* 
time"  with  the  wheat,  but  the  tares  are  gathered  and 
burned  fir.«5t  (so  in  Matt,  xxv  46)  :  lastly,  that  as  the  sow- 
ing of  the  tares  runs  parallel,  in  point  of  time,  with  the 
sowing  of  the  good  seed,  and  represents  all  the  false 
hearted  professors  of  religion  in  every  age^  whom  Christ 
will  have  to  remain  till  he  come  ;  so  the  gathering  and 
burning  of  these  at  the  time  of  harvest,  denotes  the  judg- 


276  SIMULTANEOUS    JUDGMENT 

merit  of  the  whole  of  the  wicked  at  the  time  of  Christ's 
corning.  And  "  then  [rore]^"  and  not  till  then,  "  shall 
the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  snn  in  the  kingdom  of 
their  Father." 

No  ingenuity,  it  appears  to  me,  can  set  aside  this  bright 
testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  proposition  we  are  now  illus- 
trating.* 

I  will  now  re-quote,  but  need  scarcely  comment  on,  our 
Lord's  announcement  of  the  resurrection  and  judgment  of 
both  classes  at  once,  after  what  I  have  already  said  on  it 
(pp.  201-205). 

John  V.  28,  29 :  "  The  hour  is  coming,  in  the  which  all  that 
are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come 

♦  This  passage,  by  the  way,  affords  a  ready  answer  to  all  that  is  said 
in  favour  of  a  "judgment  of  the  quick,"  or  living  wicked  at  the  coming 
of  Christ,  separate  from  those  that  have  to  be  raised  for  judgment  from 
their  graves.  Many  passages  in  which  righteous  and  wicked  are  brought 
together,  and  represented  as  judged  together,  at  Christ's  co  ing  (such 
as  Matt.  XXV.  1-13  ;  Luke  xii.  46,  xiii.  25),  are  considered  to  speak  only 
of  such  wicked  as  shall  be  living  when  Christ  comes.  Now,  not  to  insist 
on  the  violence  which  this  seems  to  put  upon  those  passages,  this  parable 
of  the  tares  unanswerably  shows  that  no  such  view  was  intended.  For 
were  we  to  conclude  that  because  no  tares  could  be  gathered  at  the  time 
of  harvest  from  a  field,  but  such  as  were  actually  in  the  field  at  that  time, 
therefore  only  the  wicked  living  at  the  tin>e  of  Christ's  coming  were  meant 
here,  we  should  pervert  the  figure  to  what  it  was  never  meant  to  teach. 
There  is  always  a  defect  in  the  capacity  of  parabolic  teaching.  The 
defect  here  is,  that  it  cannot  represent  those  corrupt  members  of  the 
Church-visible  who  have  been  in  the  field  (to  use  the  figure  of  the  para- 
ble), but  are  removed  out  of  it  by  death,  generation  after  generation,  be* 
fore  Christ  comes.  And  yet  we  have  seen  above,  that  all  these  are  meant 
as  the  tares  to  be  gathered  and  burned  when  Christ  comes.  Though  the 
figure  represents  only  the  wicked  then  living,  the  parable  as  a  whole 
teaches  that  the  tares  represent  the  children  of  the  devil  at  large.  So  even 
in  those  representations  which  are  not  parabolic—those  ali-e  when  Christ 
comes,  though  alone  directly  spoken  of,  are  to  be  understood  as  embra- 
cing all  of  the  same  class— whether  saints  or  sinners— ihat  have  evei 
lived.    (See  the  quotation  from  Beksel,  Note,  pp.  16,  17.) 


SCRIPTURAL    PROOF    OF    IT.  271 

forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
life ;  and  they  tliat  have  donu  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
damnation." 

I  have  little  to  add  on  this  passage,  in  addition  to  what 
has  been  said  under  a  former  head  (pp.  201-205).  The 
resurrection  and  the  judgment  are  here  connected  together, 
the  one  act  being  represented  as  in  order  to  the  other,  and 
both  said  to  be  done  in  one  "  hour."  It  is  not  the  Ungth 
of  time  which  this  word  -'  hour"  is  designed  to  mark. 
It  may  take  a  short  or  a  long  time.  But  it  is  the  unity  of 
feriod  and  action  which  alone  is  intended,  and  which,  not- 
withstanding all  the  criticisms  made  upon  it.  can  never, 
without  violence,  be  made  to  comprehend  under  it  the  mul- 
tifarious and  broken  transactions  that  are  expected  to  occur 
from  the  beginning  of  the  thousand  years  to  the  last  judg« 
ment.  Mark  here,  also,  the  different  character  of  the 
resurrection  in  the  case  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked 
the  one  •'  the  resurrection  of  life ;  the  other,  the  rcsurrec 
tion  of  damnation:  the  one  holding  of  the  second  Adam 
the  other  of  the  frst."  The  Son  of  God  is  the  doer  of 
both.  But  the  one  class  he  raises  in  the  exercise  of  grace 
the  other  in  the  exercise  of  justice.  It  is  the  life  of  th* 
Head,  in  the  one  case,  reaching  the  bodies  of  his  members, 
as  long  before  it  had  reached  their  souls  :  it  is  the  "  wrath 
of  the  Lamb"  in  the  other  case,  summoning  to  damnation 
all  the  workers  of  iniquity 

Acts  xvii.  31 :  "  He  hath  appointed  a  day,  in  the  which  he  will 
judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  that  man  whom  he  hath 
ordained ;  whereof  he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,,  in 
that  he  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead." 

Whether  we  look  at  the  parties  here  said  to  be  judged 
—'Uhe  world"  generally,  and  ^^  all  men  every  where^^^  in 
particular — or  observe  the    "fixing"   (effrija«)  of  "a  day^ 

2a 


278  SIMULTANEOUS    JUDGMENT — - 

for  doing  the  whole,  without  a  hint  of  any  brcak^  it  seoms 
difficult  to  conceive  how  the  Spirit  of  God  could  have  con 
veyed  to  us  the  idea  of  one  continuous  unbroken  judg 
ment,  of  righteous  and  wicked  together,  more  plainly  than 
this  passage  does  it.  To  break  up  a  judgment  so  described 
into  two  or  more  fragmentary  judgments,  as  pre-raillen- 
nialists  are  forced  to  do,  only  shows  what  unreasonable 
demands  their  system  makes  upon  them. 

The  following  passage  is  singularly  decisive  : — 

Rom.  ii.  5-16 :  "  But,  after  thy  hardness  and  impenitent  heart, 
treasurest  up  unto  thyself  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath 
and  revelation  of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God  ;  who 
will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds :  to  them 
who,  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  seek  for  glory, 
and  honour,  and  immortality,  eternal  life  ;  but  unto  them  that 
are  contentious,  and  do  not  obey  the  truth,  but  obey  unright- 
eousness, indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and  anguish, 
upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil,  of  the  Jew  first, 
and  also  of  the  Gentile :  but  glory,  honour,  and  peace,  to 
every  man  that  worketh  good  ;  to  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the 
Gentile,  i7i  the  day  when  God  shall  judge  the  sea  els  of  men  by 
Jesus  Christ," 

Observe  the  alternations  here  from  righteous  to  wicked, 
and  from  wicked  to  righteous,  in  the  description  of  one  and 
the  same  day  of  judgment.  Observe,  too,  the  names  given 
to  this  day  :  It  is  called  emphatically  "  the  day  of  wrath, 
and  of  the  revelation  of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God  ;" 
implying,  that  immediately  on  the  arrival  of  this  day,  that 
righteous  judgment  which  till  then  had  been  in  abeyance, 
will  burst  forth  upon  "the  world  of  the  ungodly;"  and 
not  temporal^  but  ^'•eternal  judgment — for  as  soon  as  that 
day  arrives  and  reveals  his  wrath,  God  shall  judge  the 
secrets"  of  the  heart,  and  "the  secrets  of  men"  indis- 
criminately, "  by  Jesus  Christ."     How,  then,  is  it  possible 


SCRIPTURAL    PROOF    OF    IT.  279 

to  doutt  that  the  judgment  here  described  will  be  one  un- 
broken  continuous  trial  of  men^s  hearts,  righteous  and 
wicked  together? 

The  same  truth  is  unequivocally  expressed  in 

2  Cor.  V.  9-11 :  "Wherefore  we  labour,  that,  whether  present  or 
absent,  we  may  be  accepted  of  him.  For  we  must  all  appear 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ ;  that  every  one  may  re- 
ceive the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  according  to  that  he  hath 
done,  whether  good  or  bad.  Knowing  therefore  the  terror  of 
the  Lord,  we  persuade  men." 

How  can  it  be  doubted,  in  the  face  of  such  a  passage  as 
this,  that  righteous  and  wicked  will  be  sisted  before  one 
and  the  same  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  at  one  and  the  same 
time ;  that  the  judgment  on  both  classes  will  be  strictly 
personal  and  in  its  issues  eternal ;  and  that  the  anticipation 
of  judgment,  in  this  precise  view  of  it.  was  the  grand  spring 
of  action  in  the  apostle's  own  mind,  and  what  he  wished 
all  others  to  share  with  him  in  ? 

So  in 

1  Cor.  iv.  5 :  "  Therefore  judge  nothing  before  the  time,  until  the 

Lord  come,  who  both  will  bring  to  light  the  hidden  thirigs  oj 
darkness,  and  wilt  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the  hearts ;  and 
then  shall  evenj  man  have  'praise  of  God^ 

If  this  passage  does  not  inform  us  that  the  object  of 
Christ's  coming  will  be  to  lay  bare  the  secrets  of  men's 
hearts,  for  the  express  purpose  of  passing  sentence  upon 
them  accordingly,  and  that  this  will  be  done  alike  upon  all 
classes,  the  faithful  and  the  unfaithful,  the  honest  and  the 
hypocritical,  alike — what  does  it  declare  ? 

2  Thess.  i.  6-10:  "  Seeing  it  is  a  right  thing  with  God  to  recom- 

pense tribulation  to  them  that  trouble  you ;  and  to  you  who 
are  troubled  rest  with  us,  ^chen  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed 
from  heaven  with  his  mighty  ang  >-ls,  in  flaming  fire,  taking 


280  SI3MULTANE0US    JUDGMENT 

vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  that  obey  not 
the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  who  shall  be  punuhed 
with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  our  Lord,  and 
from  tJve  glory  of  his  power;  when  he  shall  come  to  be  olori- 
FiET)  IN  HIS  SAINTS,  and  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that  have 
believed*  (because  our  testimony  among  you  was  believed), 
in  that  day  J' 

Here  we  have  something  to  be  done  both  to  safnts  and 
to  sinners,  and  the  express  time  for  the  doing  of  both  We 
have  also  a  double  expression,  both  of  what  is  to  be  done 
to  each  party,  and  of  the  time.  To  '•  them  that  trouble" 
believers,  he  •'  will  recompense  tribulation."  Of  what  sort  ? 
"  They  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction." 
But  "  to  those  who  are  troubled,  he  will  recompense  rest," 
yea,  he  will  "  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all 
them  that  believe."  So  much  for  what  is  to  be  done  to 
each.  Now  for  the  ii?ne.  Both  parties  are  to  be  "  recom* 
pensed"  at  the  same  time — the  troublers  with  tribulation, 
the  troubled  with  rest — "  when  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be 
revealed  from  heaven."  This  is  again,  and  yet  again  re- 
peated. "  The  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven 
with  his  mighty  angels,  in  flaming  fire,  talcing  vengeance'^ 
— not  to  take  it  some  thousand  years  thereafter — but  with 
that  "  flaming  fire"  of  his  •'  vengeance,"  he  will  burst  upon 
the  world  of  the  ungodly  at  his  second  coming.  And  lest 
it  should  be  said  that  this  "vengeance"  may  mean  merely 
public  judgments  upon  anti  christian  nations — a  turn  to 
give  to  the  words  as  absurd  as  it  is  offensive,  yet  by  no 
means  uncommon — as  if  to  cut  off  every  such  meagre  view, 
the  apostle  adds,  "  who  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting 
destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the 
glory  of  his  power,"  and  once  more  he  notes  the  time — • 
'•  WHEN  hf.  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  ad- 


T.  TziQTtvaaa 


So  all  the  critical  editions 


SCRIPTURAL    PROOF    OF    IT.  281 

mired  in  all  them  that  have  believed ;"  and  as  if  even  this 
were  not  enough,  he  adds,  after  a  parenthesis,  "  in  that 
dayy  If  such  emphatic  reiterations  of  the  same  thing,  in 
every  form  of  language  the  most  vivid,  be  not  sufficient — 
if  after  this  the  judgment  of  righteous  and  wicked  together, 
and  both,  "  at  the  revelation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  from  hea- 
ven," be  questioned — it  seems  difficult  to  conceive  what 
way  of  expressing  this  truth  would  be  deemed  sufficient. 
If  the  apostle  had  been  writing  expressly  against  the  no- 
tion of  a  divided  judgment — a  judgment  of  each  class  sepa- 
rately, and  with  an  interval  between  them  of  a  thousand 
jears — it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  he  could  have  expressed 
the  reverse  of  this  more  clearly  and  more  emphatically  than 
this  passage  does  And  yet  this  is  got  over  by  pre-mil- 
lennialists. 


1  Cor.  lii.  12-15 :  "  If  any  man  build  upon  this  foundation 
gold,  silver,  precious  stones,  wood,  hay,  stubble  :  every 
man's  work  shall  be  made  manifest :  for  the  day  shall  de- 
clare it,  because  it  shall  be  revealed  by  fire ;  and  the  fire 
shall  try  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any 
man's  work  abide  which  he  hath  built  thereupon,  he  shall 
receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he 
shall  suffer  loss ;  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved ;  yet  so  as 
by  fire." 

Here  "  the  day  "  of  Christ's  second  coming  is  said  to  be 
^'-revealed  hy  jiief  just  as  in  the  preceding  passage  it  is 
said,  *  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  in 
flaming  fire."  This  fire  shall  be  applied  to  the  "build- 
ing" which  every  professed  Christian  has  erected  upon 
Chiist,  the  true  '•  foundation."  for  the  purpose  of  testing  tbo 
soundness  of  the  materials  employed.  The  worthless  ma- 
terials are  termed  •'  woofl.  hay^  slubbl^,''^  wliich,  being  all 
eombustible,  "  shall  be  burned."     The  valuable  materials 

2a2 


282  SIMULTANEOUS    JUDGMENT 

are  stj^led,  ^^  gold,  silver,  'precious  stones,''^  which  stand  the 
fire,  and  so  will  come  out  from  the  fiery  test,  to  which 
they  are  to  be  subjected,  uninjured.  Thus,  ^'  every  man's 
work  shall  be  made  manifest :  for  the  day  shall  declare  it, 
and  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is." 
As  this  fiery  test  will  discover  who  are  true  members  of 
Christ,  and  who  are  hypocrites,  so  will  it  separate  the  chaff 
from  the  wheat  in  Christ's  own  people,  some  of  whom  will 
"  scarcely  be  saved."  This  fire,  then,  is  to  test  the  right- 
eous and  the  wicked  together,  at  "  the  revelation  of  the 
day  of  Christ ;"  and  shall  we  say,  that  though  this  test  will 
be  applied  in  the  day  of  Christ's  coming  to  all  the  righteous 
that  have  ever  lived,  it  will  not  be  then  applied  to  all  the 
wicked,  but  only  to  so  many  of  them  as  shall  be  found  liv- 
ing when  Christ  comes,  leaving  all  the  rest  for  a  thousand 
years  undisturbed  in  their  graves,  thereafter  to  be  tried  in 
a  party  by  themselves  ?  Surely  this  is  a  very  preposterous 
turn  to  give  to  the  passage.* 

Col.  i.  28:  "  Whom  we  preach,  warning  every  man,  and  teaching 


*  I  am  aware  of  the  reference  to  doctrines  in  this  passage,  as  the  thing 
more  immediately  intended  by  the  "wood,  hay,  stubble," &c.,  and  these 
too  as  introduced  by  men  "  holding  the  Head"— building  on  "the  true 
foundation."  In  that  view,  the  passage  is  deeply  instructive.  But  he 
who  stops  short  at  this  point,  and  fancies  that  he  has  exhausted  the 
whole  scope  and  object  of  the  passage  when  he  has  brought  out  its  bear- 
ings on  doctrine,  has  taken  but  a  feeble  grasp  of  it.  The  personal  bear- 
ings of  the  passage  we  shall  do  well  not  to  miss,  for  they  are  as  searching 
and  solemn  as  they  are  obvious.  When  the  fire  has  burned  up  all  thatia 
combust.ble  about  some  of  us,  how  much  will  remain  7  "  As  a  shepherd 
taketh  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  lion  two  legs  or  a  piece  of  an  ear,"  so 
shall  some  be  then  saved.  Fiery  tests  are.  indeed,  from  time  to  time  ap- 
plied to  men  here;  and  by  these,  strange  discoveries  are  sometimes 
made,  by  which  "  the  last  become  first  and  the  first  last."  Premonitions 
these  are,  and  rehearsals  on  a  small  scale  of  the  revelations  of  the  great 
dav.    "  The  Lord  grant  that  we  may  find  mercy  of  the  Lord  in  that  day !'' 


SCRIPTURAL    PROOF    OF    IT.  283 

every  man  in  all  wisdom  ;  that  we  may  present*  every  man-f 
perfect  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Here  Paul  does  not  assert^  but  fakes  it  for  granted^  that 
Le  and  other  ministers  will  be  confronted  with  all  the 
people  to  whom  they  have  ministered  in  the  day  of  Christ's 
appearing — embracing  of  course  both  classes  of  them — and 
tells  us  how  he  agonized  in  order  to  be  able  to  give  a  good 
account  of  "  every  man  "  that  had  been  the  object  of  his 
labours  ;  not  of  his  genuine  converts  in  their  presence^  and 
of  the  rejecters  of  his  message  in  their  absnct — while  rot- 
ting in  their  graves,  or  at  some  long  subsequent  resurrec- 
tion and  judgment  of  the  wicked — but  that  he  might  be  able 
to  present  them  all  perfect  in  Christ,  which  implies  surely 
that  he  might  have  a  very  diflferent  presentation  to  make  of 
some  from  others,  in  that  day. 

So  in 

Heb.  xiii.  17 :  "  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and 
submit  yourselves :  for  they  keep  watch  {aypvirvo^aiv)  for  your 
souls,  as  they  that  must  give  account ;  that  they  may  do  it 
with  joy  and  not  with  grief:  for  that  is  unprofitable  for 
you." 

1.  Thess,  ii.  19,  20:  "  For  what  is  our  hope,  or  joy,  or  crown  of 
rejoicing "?  Are  not  even  ye  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming  '?    For  ye  are  our  glory  and 

joy." 

In  the  first  of  these  passages  the  people  are  reminded 
that  their  spiritual  guides  have  to  give  an  account  of 
them  individually,  and  that  it  might  be  one  either  of  joy 
or  of  grief,  according  to  the  class  they  should  be  found  in 


*  HapaaTTjGwutv.  This  is  the  presentation  of  the  Church  to  Christ  at 
his  coming,  which  we  have  found  to  be  a  favourite  idea  with  more  than 
one  apostle.     See  chap,  iv.,  pp.  57-61. 

t  liivra  avdpuirov,  thrice  repeated  in  one  verse.  Hoc  (says  Bengel) 
toties  posiium  maximam  habet  Seivo-TjTa  ac  vim. 


284  SIMULTANEOUS    JUDGMENT 

at  the  great  day.  In  the  other  passage  the  apostle  refers 
to  the  joy  he  would  experience,  and  the  crown  he  would 
receive,  as  the  spiritual  father  of  his  Thessalonian  converts, 
when  he  met  them  at  the  coming  of  their  common  Lord. 

1  John  ii.  28;  iv.  17:  "And  now,  little  children,  abide  in  him  i 
that,  when  he  shall  appear,  we  may  have  confidence,  and 

not  be  ashamed    before  Mm  at  his  coming 

Herein  is  our  love  made  perfect,  that  we  may  have  bold- 
iiess  in  the  day  of  judgment ;  because  as  he  is,  so  are  we  in  this 
world." 

Rev.  iii.  5 :  "'He  that  overcometh,  the  same  shall  be  clothed  in 
white  raiment ;  and  I  will  not  blot  out  his  name  out  of  the 
book  of  life,  but  I  will  confess  his  name  before  my  Father,  and 
before  his  angels." 

1  Tim.  V.  24,  25 :  "  Some  men's  sins  are  open  beforehand,  going 

before  to  judgment;  and  some  they  follow  after.  Likewise 
the  good  works  [of  some]  are  manifest  beforehand ;  and  they 
that  are  otherwise  cannot  be  hid." 
Rom.  xiv.  10,  12 :  "  But  Avhy  dost  thou  judge  thy  brother  1  .  .  , 
for  we  shall  all  stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ. 
...  So  then  every  oiie  of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself  to 
God" — namely,  "before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ." 

Leaving  these  passages  to  speak  for  themselves,  I  con- 
clude these  testimonies  to  the  simultaneous  judgment  of 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked  with  two  of  the  grandest 
descriptions,  but  scarcely  requiring  illustratioQ. 

2  Pet.  iii,  7,  10,  12:  "But  the  heavens  and  the  earth  which  are 

now,  are  kept  in  store,  reserved  unto  fire  against  t]ie  day 
of  judgment  and  of  the  perdition  of  ungodly  men.  .  .  .  But  tha 
day  of  live  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night;  in  the  which 
{tv  i)  the  heavens  shall  pass  away,"  &<;.  ..."  Looking  for 
and  liasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God,  in  consequence 
of  which  {Si  »/v)*  the  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be  dis- 
solved." 

♦  A  remarkable  turn  of  expression.    We  may  compare  with  it  Rev. 


SCRIPTURAL    PROOF    OF    IT.  285 

Here  "  the  day  of  judgment,"  and  even  "  the  coming  o^ 
that  day,  as  a  thief  in  the  night,"  is  spoken  of  as  one,  in 
point  of  time,  with  "  the  perdition  of  ungodly  men,"  and 
both  with  the  dissolution  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth. 
How,  then,  can  it  be  maintained  that  this  "  perdition  of 
ungodly  men"  will  be  a  thousand  years  later  than  the 
coming  of  Christ?  The  usual  reply  to  this  is,  that  the 
passage  speaks  only  of  such  "  ungodly"  as  shall  be  alive 
when  Christ  comes.  Even  if  we  should  admit  this,  do 
those,  who  adopt  it  believe  in  any  such  "  'perdition  of  un- 
godly  men^^  when  Christ  comes,  as  involves  a  strictly  per- 
sonal judgment  of  the  "  secrets  of  their  hearts  ?"  Do  they 
believe  that  this  "perdition"  will  be  the  execution  of  the 
sentence  passed  upon  them  after  such  judgment,  and  that 
it  will  consequently  be  not  any  sweeping  acts  of  vengeance 
upon  public  bodies  or  masses  of  men,  but  their  "  everlast- 
ing destrtbclion  from  tlie  presence  of  the  Lord  and  from 
the  glory  of  his  power  ?"  In  a  word,  do  they  believe  that 
it  will  be  such  a  judgment  as  leaves  not  one  of  the  coa- 
demned  to  escape  ?  If  so,  what  becomes  of  the  notion  of 
"  remnants^^  of  these  very  "  ungodly  men"  spared  to  "  stock 
the  new  earth,"  "converted  by  this  judgment,"  and  made 
missionaries  to  the  heathen  world  ? 

Another  theory  has  been  devised  for  solving  these  inex- 
tricable difficulties,  namely,  that  as  the  day  of  judgment 
is  to  last  a  thousand  years,  the  perdition  of  ungodly  men 
may  be  said  to  take  place  ^^  in  the  dap  in  which  the  heavens 
are  dissolved,"  though  it  do  not  take  place  till  the  end  of 

XX.  11,  "And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  him  that  sat  on  it,/rom 
whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  Jled  away  ;"  also  2  Thess.  i.  9,  "Who 
shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destructionyVo??!  the  presence  (or  face) 
of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power."  "  This  fact  (says  Ben- 
gel)  will  be  intolerable  to  the  wicked :  They  shall  not  see,  but  they 
shall  feel  it."  So  in  our  passage,  he  speaks  as  if  the  heavens  would 
kindle  at  the  presence,  or  under  the  influence,  of  "  that  day." 


286  SIMULTANEOUS    JUDGMENT 

it.     This  is  Mr.  Burgh's  view,  to  whose  statomeut  I  shal) 
have  something  to  say  in  the  following  chapter. 

The  last  passage,  though  already  given,  I  must  here 
transcribe  in  full  • 

Rev.  XX.  11-15  :  "  And  1  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  him  that 
sat  on  it,  from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled 
away ;  and  there  was  found  no  place  for  them.  And  I  saw 
the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  the  throne :  and  the 
books  were  opened ;  and  another  book  was  opened,  which  is 
the  book  of  life  :  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  thos6 
things  which  were  written  in  the  books,  according  to  theii 
works.  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in' 
it ;  and  death  and  hades  delivered  up  the  dead  which 
were  in  them :  and  they  were  judged  every  man  accord- 
ing to  their  works.  And  death  and  hades  were  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire.  This  is  the  second  death.  And  whoso- 
ever was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  was  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire." 

On  this  passage  I  observed,  that  if  ever  language  ex- 
pressed the  doctrine  of  a  simultaneous  and  universal  re- 
surrection, surely  we  have  it  here.  I  would  now  add, 
that  if  language  be  capable  of  expressing  the  doctrine  of  a 
simultaneous  and  universal  judgment,  it  is  undoubtedly  ex- 
pressed here.  But  I  will  not  try  to  make  plainer  by  com- 
ments, what  is  so  ver}'^  plain  without  them.  I  would  merely 
request  the  reader  to  glance  again  over  what  was  said  on 
this  passage  in  connexion  with  the  Resurrection  (pp.  210- 
217). 

One  other  passage- -omitted  in  its  proper  place — I  may 
be  permitted  to  add  here  : 

2  Tim.  iv.  1 :  "  I  charge  thee  before  God,  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  at  his  appear- 
ing and  his  kingdom,  Preach  the  word,"  &c. 

The  "  judgmen  ■    of  quick    and    dead"  is  an  expression 


SCRIPTURAL    PROOF    OF    IT.  2S7 

thrice  used  in  the  New  Testament:  once  (Acts  x.  42)  iu 
connexion  with  the  Person  who  is  to  do  it — ''It  is  ho 
(Christ)  who  is  ordained  of  God  to  be  the  Judge  of  quick 
and  dead;"  again  (1  Pet  iv.  6).  in  connexion  with  the 
nearness  of  it — "  Who  is  readi/  to  judge  the  quick  and  tl»e 
dead  ;"  *  and  here,  in  connexion  with  the  time  of  it — ■ 
"  Who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  at  his  a'ppcaring 
and  his  kingdom  " 

The  "  kingdom"  here  is  unquestionably  that  of  glory  : 
sometimes  called  the  kingdom  of  our  Father — '  Then  shall 
the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  thi^  kingdom  of 
THEIR  Father"  (Matt.  xiii.  43) ;  sometimes  called  the 
kingdom  of  Christ — "  So  an  entrance  shall  be  ministered 
unto  you  abundantly  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  op 
OUR  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ"  (2  Pet.  i.  11); 
and  sometimes  the  kingdom  of  both  the  Father  and  the  Son — 
''  No  whoremonger,  nqr  unclean  person,  nor  idolater,  hath 
any  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  Gtod" 
(Eph.  V.  5).  In  this  sense  of  it,  •'  Christ's  appearing  and 
his  kingdom''^  are  ever  associated  in  point  of  time ;  as  when 
Paul  charged  the  Thessalonians  that  they  would  •■  walk 
worthy  of  God,  who  had  called  them  to  his  kingdom  and 
glory''  (1  Thess.  ii.  I2).t 

Well,  it  is  at  this,  "  his  appearing  and  kingdom,"  that 
Christ  is  to  "  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead" — not  "  the 
quick"  at  his  appearing,  and  '•  the  dead"  a  thousand  years 
thereafter ;  but  the  quick  and  the  dead  together,  and  of 
both  classes,  "  at  his  appearing  and  his  kingdom." 


*  Paratus  est  Judex:  nam,  evangelic  praBdicato,  nil  nisi  finis  restat 
— (Bengel.) 

f  BafftAetav  Kai  So^av'  regnum  et  gloriam:  Magnificum  avvBerov^ 
says  Bengel.  Though  here  called  "  Gods  kingdom,"  the  identity  of  it 
witli  that  which  is  called  Christ's,  is  too  manifest  to  admit  of  doubt. 


288  SUMMARY. 

And  now  what  have  we  found  on  this  head  of  the  judo 

MENT  ? 

1.  We  have  found  that  the  pre-millennialists  are  con* 
strained  to  admit,  in  one  form  or  other,  that  Christ,  when 
he  comes  the  second  time,  will  come  to  judge  the  world. 
But, 

2.  As  their  system  does  not  admit  of  any  general  judg- 
ment— any  judgment  of  the  whole  world  at  once — we  have 
found  them  obliged  to  parcel  out  the  judgment,  not  only 
into  separate  acts  or  processes,  distant  from  each  other  by 
long  periods  of  time,  but  into  heterogeneous  transactions, 
that  cannot  be  brought  under  one  category ;  and  to  call 
the  whole  period  of  the  thousand  years  ^' the  day  of  judg- 
ment?'*    Thus, 

They  make  the  judgments  upon  the  anti-christian  na- 
tions which  are  to  usher  in  the  millennium  to  be  part  of 
*•  the  judgment  of  the  great  day ;"  they  style  these  the 
"judgment  of  the  quvk  ;''^  and  by  many  of  them  they  are 
identified  with  the  judgment  so  inimitably  described  in  the 
25th  of  Matthew.  Now,  either  this  is  the  personal  and 
eternal  judgment  of  those  nations,  or  it  is  not.  If  it  be 
no/,  it  is  absurd  to  call  it  "  the  judgment  of  the  quick," 
and  such  an  application  of  that  phrase  is  fitted  only  to 
mislead.  But  if  these  pre-millennial  judgments  upon  the 
anti-christian  nations  be  all  the  judgment  that  is  ever  to 
pass  upon  their  immortal  souls,  then  how  come  '•  remnants" 
of  them  to  be  spared  in  those  judgments  ;  nay  converted 
by  what  to  them  is  "  the  judgment  of  the  great  day,"  and 
made  instruments,  during  the  millennium,  of  converting 
others  ?  Was  ever  a  wilder,  and  I  will  add,  a  more  dan- 
gerous speculation  gravely  put  forth  by  good  men  ?  Far 
fcher, 

They  make  the  millennial  rule,  administration,  or 
government  of  Christ — which   in    Scripture    is  doubtless 


SUMMARY.  289 

called  by  the  name  of  "judgment/'  just  as  all  rule  is — 
this  also  they  make  part  of  '^  the  judgment  of  the  great 
day."  Of  course  it  cannot  be  pretended,  that  this  is  of  the 
nature  of  a  jtbdicial  I  rial  of  men's  previous  state  and  cha- 
racter for  eternity.  So  that,  during  great  part  of  their 
thousand  years'  day  of  judgment,  there  is  to  be  no  judg- 
ment at  all,  in  the  only  sense  in  which  Christ  is  said 
to  come  to  judgment.  They  may  try  to  give  it  something 
of  that  character,  by  telling  us,  as  they  do,  of  the  instant 
death  with  which  all  outbreakings  of  evil  during  the  mil- 
lennium will  be  visited.  But  he  who  can  persuade  him- 
self that  suck  judgments — allowing  there  were  more  ground 
to  look  for  them  than  has  yet  been  produced — will  make 
the  millennium  to  be  '•  the  great  day  of  judgment,"  must 
be  easily  convinced.     And  then, 

By  placing  the  judgment  of  the  righteous  before,  and 
that  of  the  wicked  after  the  millennium,  they  make  the 
last  judgment,  so  majestically  described  in  the  20th  of 
Revelation,  to  be  a  judgment  of  on£  class  only ;  and  they 
make  "  the  book  of  life  "  to  be  produced  and  opened  for  no 
other  purpose  but  to  condemn  all  that  are  then  judged,  as 
not  having  their  names  written  in  it :  Thus  are  they  driven 
to  do  manifest  violence  to  that  whole  scene.     But, 

3.  We  have  found  that  even  this  thousand  years'  day  of 
judgment  is  not  long  enough  to  serve  their  purpose  ;  and 
that,  to  help  them  over  the  work  which  they  put  into  this 
period,  it  would  require  to  be  made  longer  still.  For,  not 
to  speak  of  the  judgment  of  the  righteous,  which  they  re- 
present as  prior  to  the  thousand  years,  and  therefore  no 
part  of  the  day^s  work,  strictly  speaking ;  t)ie  judgment  of 
the  wicked,  instead  of  taking  place  withiji  the  millennial 
period,  does  not  take  place  till  after  it  has  so  entirely  run 
out,  that  even  " /Ae  little  season"  which  succeede  it — and 
2b 


290  SUMMARY. 

which  we  found  reason  to  believe  would  be,  relatively,  not 
so  very  little — would  be  exhausted  ere  it  takes  place.  And 
thus,  by  no  fair  stretch  of  language,  are  they  warranted  to 
say  that  such  a  judgment  will  take  place  in  any  fart  of 
the  millennial  day.  This  singular  scheme,  then,  of  a  thou- 
sand years'  day  of  judgment — so  very  unlike  a  true  view 
of  the  judgment-day — fails  to  meet  the  case  which  it  was 
invented  to  suit,  and  must,  independent  of  other  objections, 
be  given  up  even  on  this  ground. 

4.  This  whole  scheme  of  the  judgment  makes  no  pro- 
vision whatever — nor  does  it  pretend  to  make  any — for 
judging  the  vast  multitudes  of  believing  men  by  whom  the 
world  is  to  be  peopled  during  the  millennium.  They  are 
not  among  those  judged  before  the  millennium,  for  they 
are  not  then  born  ;  and  they  are  not  among  those  judged 
after  it,  for  none  but  the  wicked  are  expected  to  be 
judged  then.  And  so  they  are  not  judged  at  all;  that 
is  to  say,  this  scheme  makes  no  'provision  for  their  being 
judged. 

Thus  the  pre-millennial  scheme  of  the  judgment  falls 
out  at  every  turn,  and  presents  such  gaps  as  to  expose  to 
the  impartial  eye  its  fatal  deficiencies.  While  it  is  too 
artificial  and  complicated  to  look  like  a  true  doctrine,  its 
supporters  have  not  been  able,  with  all  the  pains  they  have 
taken  to  adjust  it,  to  provide  for  the  judgment  of  the  whole 
human  race.  Tried  by  its  theory  of  the  judgment,  then, 
the  pre-millennial  scheme  is  found  wanting ;  and,  if  want* 
ing  here^  it  must  be  given  up.     But, 

5.  In  contrast  with  this,  how  unencumbered,  how  ma- 
jestic, how  self-approving,  and — as  we  have  abundantly 
shown — how  conformable  to  all  Scripture,  is  the  doctrine 
of  a  simultaneous  and  universal  judgment  of  all  mankind 
at  the  coming  of  Christ !     The  passages  we  have  adduced 


SUMMARY.  58tfl 

prove  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  that  the  whole  human 
family  will  at  once  stand  before  the  bar  of  Christ  in  their 
resurrection-state  ,  and  that  the  judgment  then  held  and 
pronounced  will  be  one  continuous,  unbroken  transaction. 
And,  if  this  be  the  case,  the  pre-millennial  scheme  must  be 
abaudoaed. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    CONFLAGRATION,    AND    THE    NEW   HEAVENS   AND    NEW 
EARTH,    AT   THE    COMING    OP    CHRIST, 

There  is  probably  nothing  in  Scripture  so  hard  to  bend 
to  the  pre  millennial  doctrine  as  that  which  relates  to  the 
onflagration  and  its  issues,  as  announced  in  the  following 
▼ell-known  verses : — 

2  Pet.  iii.  7,  10-13  :  "  But  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  which 
are  now,  by  the  same  word  are  kept  in  store,  reserved 
unto  fire  against  the  day  of  judgment  and  perdition  of 
ungodly  men.  But  the  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a 
thief  [in  the  night]  ;*  in  the  which  the  heavens  shall 
pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall 
melt  with  fervent  heat,  the  earth  also  and  the  works 
that  are  therein  shall  he  burnt  up.  Seeing  then  that 
all  these  things  shall  be  dissolved,  what  manner  of  per- 
sons ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness, 
looking  for  and  hasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God, 
in  consequence  of  whichf  the  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be 
dissolved,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat  1 
Nevertheless  we,  according  to  his  promise,  look  for  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelieth  righteous- 
ness." 

"Eev.  XX,  11 :  "And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  him  that  sat 
on  it,  from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled  away ;  and 
there  was  found  no  place  for  them." 

*  Gries.  Sch.  Lack,  (f*  Tisch.  omit  tv  vvkti. 
t  See  note,  pp.  284,  285. 


FINAL    CONFLAGHATION.  293 

Rev.  XXI.  1 :  "  And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  ne^^  earth :  for  the 
first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  passed  away ;  and  there 
\\-as  no  more  sea," 


The  pre-millennial  theory  will  never  survive  the  recep- 
tion of  these  passages  in  their  plain  and  obvious  sense. 
They  describe  a  conflagration  to  take  place  when  Christ 
appears  the  second  time,  which  it  is  utterly  inconceivable 
should  occur  before  the  millennium. 

I.  When  we  turn  to  the  descriptions  of  the  world's  condi- 
tion in  the  latter  day,  we  not  only  find  no  intimation  of  such 
a  change  as  is  here  described,  but  every  thing  to  prove  that 
there  neither  will  nor  can  be  such  a  pro-millennial  revolu- 
tion upon  the  globe  we  inhabit.  Earth  and  sea  are  precisely 
where  they  were,  and  what  they  were.  Not  a  place  disap- 
pears ;  not  a  feature  of  any  thing  is  changed.  Not  to  speak 
of  Assyria  and  Egypt,  Elam  and  Shinar,  Pathros  and  Cush, 
Hamath,  and  the  islands  of  the  sea, — the  borders  of  Pales- 
tine are  given  with  the  minutest  geographical  and  topo- 
graphical precision,  as  if  nothing  had  happened  to  disturb 
them.  Mount  Zion  is  still  the  mount  it  ever  was  ;  and  En- 
gedi,  and  En-eglaim,  and  "  the  way  of  Hethlon,  as  men  go 
to  Zedad,"  and  Gilead  and  Jordan,  and  the  waters  of  strife 
in  Kadesh  and  the  Great  Sea  (Ezek  xlvii),  and  every  place, 
as  it  was.  Nay,  what  may  be  called  the  meteorological 
features  of  every  country  remain  precisely  as  before.  Any 
nation  of  the  earth,  not  coming  up  to  Jerusalem  to  worship, 
upon  them  is  to  be  no  rain.  But  whereas  "  the  family 
of  Egypt  have  no  rain" — their  land  being  watered  by  the 
bounteous  Nile — some  other  plague  is  to  visit  them.  "  If 
the  family  of  Egypt  go  not  up,  that  have  no  rain  ;  there 
shall  be  the  plague,  wherewith  the  Lord  will  smite  the 
heathen,"  &c.     (Zech.  xiv.  17,  18  ) 

So  much  for  the  physical  condition  of  the  earth,  and  of 
2b2 


204  FINAL    CONFLAGRATION 

all  that  contributes  to  make  and  keep  it  what  it  is.  But 
we  find  its  inhabitants  as  unaffected  as  itself  by  any  such 
conflagration  as  Peter  describes.  We  find  Jews  and 
Gentiles  transacting  their  affairs,  secular  and  religious,  pre- 
cisely as  before,  and  without  the  briefest  interruption. 

Now,  what  are  we  to  make  of  all  this  ?  It  is  met  in 
several  ways,  all  equally  at  variance  with  the  express 
statements  of  the  passages  before  us. 

1.  Some,  finding  the  sheer  impossibility  of  believing 
that  such  a  conflagration  as  Peter  predicts  is  consistent  with 
the  unaltered  condition  of  the  earth  and  its  inhabitants 
during  the  millennium,  candidly  admit  that  it  cannot  be 
pre-millennial,  and  agree  with  us  in  referring  it  to  the 
close  of  the  thousand  years.  Such  are  Mr.  Burgh,  Mr. 
Tyso,  and  Mr.  Ogilvy. 

"  If,"  says  Mr.  Burgh,  "  the  general  conflagration  takes  place 
at  the  comm£ncement  of  the  millennial  reign,  it  follows  that  the 
nature  and  object  of  that  reign  must  be  completely  altered,  and 
that  the  scriptural  descriptions  of  the  millennium  can  no  longer 
hold;  for,  during  the  millennial  reign,  we  are  told  that  the  in- 
habitants of  the  earth  will  be  still  in  mortal  flesh,  and  their  na- 
tional distinctions  still  maintained  ;  the  great  object  of  Christ's 
reign  on  earth  during  the  thousand  years  being,  as  I  have  said,  to 
carry  Christianity  into  effect  in  this  world,  to  gather  to  himself  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  bring  about  their  conversion.  I  ask, 
How  could  this  bel  How  could  the  nations  of  the  earth  con- 
tinue to  exist  as  men,  and  under  these  circumstances,  if  the  gen- 
eral conflagration  had  taken  place  at  the  descent  of  the  Lord  from 
heaven?"* 

But  how,  you  ask,  does  he  reconcile  this  attempt  to 
place  the  conflagration  a  thousand  years  after  Christ's  com- 
ing, with  those  words  of  the  apostle  emphatically  connect- 
ing it  with  the  very  act  of  his  coming  ? — "  The  day  of  the 

*  Lect.  on  Rev.  ut  supra,  p.  373. 


MR.    burgh's    view    OF    iT.  295 

Lord  will  corae  as  a  thief  in  the  night,  in  the  which  the 
heavens  shall  pass  away,"  &c.  All  the  answer  we  get  tc 
this  question  is,  that  this  "  day"  is  a  thousand  years  long, 
and  as  it  is  only  "  i?i  the  day,"  it  may  be  as  well  at  the 
end  as  at  the  beginning  of  it*  This,  however,  will  never 
do,  for  it  runs  counter  to  the  express  object  of  the  apostle 
in  introducing  the  subject.  He  had  been  warning  them 
against  the  scoffers  who  would  deride  the  expectation  of 
Christ's  coming,  or  of  a  day  of  judgment — reminding  them 
that  the  old  world  had  been  destroyed  by  water,  and  inti- 
mating that  •'  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  that  are  now,  are 
reserved  unto  fire  against  the  day  of  judgment  and  of  the 
perdition  of  ungodly  men  ;"  and  having  explained  the  mer- 
ciful design  of  God  in  delaying  this  fire,  and  the  execution 
of  his  vengeance  against  the  ungodly — from  which  men 
flatter  themselves  that  it  will  never  come — he  warns  such 
that  it  will  burst  upon  them  when  least  expected.  "  But 
the  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night;  in 
the  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away,"  &c.  Manifestly, 
therefore,  it  is  the  conflagration  itself  which  is  to  take  the 
world  by  surprise,  bursting  upon  it "  with  a  rushing  noise" 
(pt^^jJov).  just    as    the  antediluvians  '-knew   not  until  the 

*  *'  It  may  indeed  be  objected,  that  in  2  Pet.  iii.,  where  the  conflagra- 
tion of  the  present  world  is  mentioned  as  followed  by  new  heavens  and 
a  new  earth,  these  events  seem  to  be  identified  with  the  '  coming'  of 
the  Lord : — "  looking  for  and  hasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God, 
WHEREIN  the  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be  dissolved,'  &c.— (12,  13.) 
It,  however,  requires  but  little  examination  into  the  other  places  where 
these  expressions,  'coming  of  the  Lord,'  and  'day  of  the  Lord,'  occur, 
to  show  that  they  are  far  from  denoting,  the  one  merely  the  descent 
or  appearing  of  the  Lord,  and  the  other  a  literal  *  day.'  The  word  ren- 
dered '  coming,'  is  in  fact  '  the  being  present,''  {irapovjia,  not  tirifaveia), 
and  the  '  day  of  God'  and  the  '  day  of  judgment'  may  easily  be  shown 
to  be  designations  of  the  whole  period  of  Christ's  reign,  when  'executing 
justice  and  judgment  in  the  earth.'  //  is  then  dear,  that  if  the  confla' 
gration  and  new  creation  take  place  in  any  part  of  this  '  day  of  the  Lord} 
tke  apostle's  words  hold  true."— Pp.  375,  376. 


296  FINAL    CONFLAGRATION 

flood  came  and  destroyed  them  all."  No  thousand  years, 
therefore,  are  to  inter\ene  between  "  the  day  of  the  Lord'* 
and  "  the  passing  away  of  the  heavens."  Nor,  indeed, 
would  a  thousand  years'  interval  save  the  theory,  since, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  last  judgment  is  outside  of  the  thou- 
sand years  altogether^  and  even  after  the  expiry  of  the 
"  little  period"  which  succeeds  the  thousand  years. 

2.  Others,  constrained  to  admit  that  the  conflagration 
and  the  second  advent  are  contemporaneous,  and  taking 
both  to  be  pre-millennial,  explain  the  conflagration  in 
a  contracted  sense,  as  extending  no  farther  than  the  yro- 
phetic  earth,  or  the  territory  of  old  Rome. 

"  As  to  the  grand  difficulty,"  says  Mr.  Elliott,  "  in  the  way  of  this 
(pre-millennial)  theory,  which  has  been  supposed  to  arise  out  of  St. 
Peter's  description  of  the  earth's  being  burnt  up  before  the  pro- 
mised new  heavens  and  new  earth,  I  shall  only  suggest,  as 
others  before  me,  that  the  yij,  or  eart/i,  of  the  apostle's  conflagra- 
tion is  by  no  means  certainly  the  whole  habitable  world  (indeed 
the  parallel  prophecy  of  Isa.  Ixv.  17,  18,  Ixvi.  22,  &c.,  seems  to 
forbid  it) ;  or,  in  fact,  any  other  than  the  Roman  earth,  which  we 
have   seen  on  Apocalyptic  evidence  is  to  be  destroyed  pre-mil- 

lennially  by  fire  at  the  time  of  Antichrist's  destruction 

It  would  seem  that  in  this  state  of  things  and  of  (sceptical) 
feeling  (in  regard  to  the  coming  of  Christ)  in  professing  Chris- 
tendom, all  suddenly  and  unexpectedly,  and  conspicuous  over 
the  world  as  the  lightning  that  shineth  from  the  east  even  to 
the  west,  the  second  advent  and  appearing  of  Christ  will  take 
place.  .  .  .  Meanwhile  it  would  also  appear,  that  with  a  tre- 
mendous earthquake  accompanying,  of  violence  unknown  since  the 
revolutions  of  primaeval  chaos  (an  earthquake  under  which  the 
Roman  world  at  least  is  to  reel  to  and  fro  like  a  drunken  man), 
the  solid  crust  of  this  earth  shall  be  broken,  and  fountains 
burst  forth   from    its   inner   deep,  not   as  once  of  water,   but   of 

liquid  fire that  this,  I  say,  shall  then  burst  forth  and  en- 

gulph  the  vast  territory  of  the  Papal  Babylon,  and  the  godless 
of  its  inhabitants ;   thence  spreading  even   to  Palestine,  and  every 


MR.  Elliott's  and  mr.  a.  bonar's  riEW  of  it.  297 

where,  as  in  the  case  of  Sodom,  making  the  ve:  y  elements  to  melt 
with  fervent  hoat;  and  that  there  (in  Palestine)  the  flame  shall  con- 
sume the  Antichrist  and  Ids  confederate  kings,  while  the  sword  also 
does  its  work  of  slaughter.  .  .  .  And  then  immediately,  it  would 
Beem  also,  the  renovation  of  this  our  earth  is  to  take  place ;  its  soil 
being  purified  by  the  very  action  of  the  fire,  in  all  that  shall  remain 
of  it,  for  *  the  nations  of  the  saved,'  that  is,  the  -jrentile  remnant 
and  restored  Israel,"  &,c.—{Hor.  Apoc.  iv.  217,  221,  222,  224-227,  ut 
supra.') 

"  It  is  well  known,"  adds  Mr.  Elliott  in  a  note,  "  that  the 
words  yij  and  oiKovfievii  are  often  used  in  a  limited  sense  of  Judoea 
or  the  Roman  earth,  just  as  the  Romans  themselves  call  theii 
world  the  orbis  terrarum:  and,  after  careful  consideration  of  the 
various  prophetic  descriptions  of  the  consummation,  I  incline  to 
think  that  the  meaning  of  the  term,  when  used  in  these  pro- 
phecies of  the  concluding  revolutions  of  the  earth  on  Christ's 
advent,  is  thus  limited,  and  that  it  refers  to  the  Roman  world 
alone;  with  this  modification,  moreover,  that  the  circumstance 
of  the  separation  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Empire,  and 
political  destruction  of  the  former  by  the  Turkish  invasion, 
having  caused  the  phrase  to  be  used  in  the  later  Apocalyptic 
prophecies  of  Western  or  Papal  Christendom  only,  it  may  be 
so  in  those  of  the  consummation  also. —  TTie  idea  of  some  other 
a7id  more  universal  conflagraiion  at  the  general  judgment  is  not 

HEREBY  EXCLUDED." 


Mr.  A.  Bonar  takes  the  same  contracted  view  of  the 
conflagration,  as  limited  to  Christendonu  though  its  effects 
may  be  "felt  all  over  the  wide  globe."  After  referring  to 
Dan.  vii.  and  Rev.  xviii.,  which  speak  of  the  body  of  the 
fourth  beast  as  given  to  the  burning  flame  and  of  the 
smoke  of  Babylon's  burning,  and  identifying  this  with  the 
conflagration  described  in  Peter,  he  says — 

"  It  appears  to  intimate  that  at  the  Lord's  coming  all  that  is 
called  '  Babylon ' — in  short,  all  Christendom  become  Papal — shall 
be  one  blaze  of  consuming  fire.    This  tremendous  fire  shall  purge 


FINAL    CONFLAGRATION 

Europe  from  the  filtli  of  its  destroyers  more  effectually  than  Joshua's 
sword  did  Canaan ;  and  the  (European  1)  soil  thus  cleansed  shall 
soon  receive  a  new  race  of  inhabitants.  It  may  be,  too,  that  the 
effects  of  the  confiafration  shall  be  felt  all  over  the  wide  globe,  pen- 
etrating through  the  earth,  and  working  that  change  on  it  appointed 
by  the  Lord.  And  thus,  not  the  heavens  only  and  the  elements,  but 
earth  also  and  its  works,  are  visited  with  fire.  In  Heb.  xii.  26,  God's 
voice  is  said  to  have  shaken  '  the  earth '  when  it  made  Sinai  tremble. 
On  that  day,  not  only  did  the  skies  above  feel  the  tempest,  but 
earth  shook  as  the  Lord  came  down.  So  it  may  be  said  that  '  earth ' 
is  flung  into  the  crucible  when  Dan,  vii.  11,  and  Rev.  xviii.  9,  are  ful- 
filled"—that  is,  when  Papal  Europe  only  is  '  flung  into  the  cruci- 
ble.'* 

Mr.  Bonar  himself,  however,  seems  to  stagger  at  this 
miserable  explanation  of  the  conflagration  in  Peter. 

"  It  may  be,"  he  candidly  says,  "we  are  wrong  in  supposing  that 
the  tremendous  Sodom-doom  of  Christendom  shall  be  what  is  meant 
by  '  earth  and  its  works '  sharing  in  the  fire  that  melts  the  elements ; 
but  even  if  so,  what  better  can  the  anti-raillennarian  say  V  (p.  119, 
120.)t 

Never,  perhaps,  was  more  palpable  violence  done  to  the 
text  of  Scripture,  than  by  this  singular  attempt  to  limit 
the  conflagration  predicted  by  Peter  to  Rome  Papal,  or 
Christendom.'^  The  whole  context  proclaims  it  a  world- 
wide conflagration,  and  every  clause  of  the  passage  itself 
Beems  framed  on  purpose  to  exclude  all  limitation.  Scoflf- 
ers,  says  the  apostle,  are  to  arise,  who  shall  deride  the  ex- 

*  Redempt.,  pp.  117,  118. 

t  The  anti-millennarian  difficuUy  to  which  Mr,  Bonar  alludes  is  the 
fact,  that  in  Isa.  Ixv,  17,  to  which  Peter  refers,  there  are  found  Jerusalem 
and  her  people,  houses  and  vineyards,  after  "  the  new  heaven  and  new 
earth"  which  the  prophet  announces.  On  this  supposed  difficulty,  I 
have  merely  to  refer  the  reader  to  pp.  179-139. 

t  The  excellent  Mr.  Maiiland  (of  Brighton),  and  others,  limit  the 
"every  eye"  that  "shall  see"  the  Redeemer  at  his  second  coming,  to  ev- 
ery  eye  in  Christendom  1 


UNIVERSALITY    OF    IT.  299 

pectation  of  Christ's  coming,  alleging  that  "  all  things  have 
continued  as  they  were  from  the  beginning V  To  repel  this, 
the  apostle  reminds  them  of  the  provision  made  from  the 
first  for  the  devastation  of  the  old  world  by  water.  "  By 
the  word  of  God,  the  heavens  were  of  old,  and  the  eartk 
standing  out  of  the  water  and  in  the  water  ;  whereby  the 
world  that  then  was  ( ^  -rore  <fo<r^oj),  being  overflowed  with 
water,  perished."  A  like  provision,  he  adds,  has  been  made 
for  the  destruction  of  the  world  that  now  is  by  fire.  "  But 
the  heavens  and  the  earthy  that  are  now  (o'l-  Se  vov  ovpavoi,  Kai  fi  yjjj^ 
are  by  the  same  word  stored  with  fire,  kept  unto  the  day 
of  judgment  and  of  the  perdition  of  ungodly  men."  * 
The  analogy  here  so  emphatically  traced  between  "  the 
world  that  then  was,"  and  "  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
that  are  now" — the  one  '•  overflowed  with  water,"  the  other 
doomed  to  the  flames — precludes  all  reasonable  doubt  that 
the  whole  world,  physically  considered,  is  the  subject  of  this 
prophecy,  and  the  victim  of  the  conflagration.  To  thrust 
in  here  Rome  Papal  or  Christendom,  is  in  the  last  degree 
unnatural. 

But  when  we  examine  the  detailed  description  of  this 
conflagration  in  the  subsequent  verses,  it  seems  inconceiv- 
able how  any  impartial  expositor  can  put  a  limited  sense 
upon  it. 

"  T'he  (sublunary  and  visible)  heavens  shall  pass  away 
(TrapcXeuffoi/rat)  with  a  great  noise,^^  (poi^niov^  the  word  con- 
veying the  idea) :  f 

"  T/ie  elements  {aroix^ia)  skall  meli^''  or  "  he  dissolved  (XwOncerat), 
with  fervent  IveatT 

*  So  I  incline,  with  Mr.  Elliott,  to  render  the  words,  connecting  wt>pt 
with  reOtiaavptaiJievoi  preceding,  and  not  with  rripovusvot  following ;  by 
which  also  the  idea  of  a  preparation  within  the  bowels  of  the  earth  itself 
for  its  eventual  desfuction  by  fire,  as  before  by  water,  is  better  con- 
veyed. 

t  Peribunt  magno  impetu.— (Grot.)    Mr.  Elliott's  illustration  froni 


300  FINAL    CONFLAGRATION 

The  "  heavens"  and  the  "  elements"  seem  to  be  here 
distinguished  very  much  as  "  the  earth"  and  "  the  works 
that  are  therein"  afterwards  are.  Whatever  "  elements" 
mean  here,  as  contradistinguished  from  the  '-heavens,"  it 
must  be  something,  the  "  dissolution'^  of  which  would  in- 
capacitate human  beings,  as  at  present  constituted,  from 
subsisting  for  a  moment.  What,  then,  becomes  of  the 
theory  of  mortal  men  tenanting  the  new  heavens  and  the 
new  earth  ?     It  is  nothing  better  than  a  dream. 

"  The  earth  and  the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be  buriit 
up."  *  "  The  earth,"  as  here  distinguished  from  "  the 
works  that  are  therein,"  doubtless  means  the  bodi/  of  the 
globe  as  distinguished  from  all  that  adorns  its  surface.  If 
this  is  to  be  "  burnt  up^"  it  must  surely  be  something 
greatly  more  searching  and  fundamental  than  the  mere 
"  paring  and  burning"  process  to  which  Mr.  Elliott,  in  the 
foregoing  passage,  and  others,  as  we  shall  see,  appear  no- 
thing loath  to  debase  this  magnificent  prediction. 

"  Seeing  then  that  alt  these  things  shall  be  dissolved  {\oo^ev(av).  .  .  , 
Looking  for  and  hastening  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God,  in 
consequence  of  which  the  fieavens  being  on  Jire:\  shall  be  dis- 
solved, and  tli£  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat." 

"  Nevertheless  we,  according  to  his  promise,  look  for  new  heavens 
and  a  n^io  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  rigJileousiiess,^' 

This  crowns  the  description,  and  completes  the  evidence 
against  a  limited  conflagration.     For,  as  "  the  new  heavens 

the  noise  and  shock  of  the  earthquake  which  accompanied  the  volcanic 
eruption  at  Sumbawa  in  1815,  and  which  he  tells  us  was  felt  and  heard 
970  miles  off,  seems  to  me  to  be  a  very  good  illustration  of  the  bathos, 
but  of  nothing  else. 

*  KaraKa»j(T£Tai,  "shall  be  burned  down;*'  the  Latins  would  say 
exureniur,  "shall  be  burnt  out ;""  while  we  say,  '*  shall  be  burnt  up  :"  the 
idea  of  complete  consumption  being  alike  conveyed  by  all  these  forms  of 
expression. 

•f  Yivpo-onevoi,  fusi  igne  ut  metalla  fundi  solent:ci-iis^,  Ps.  xii.  7  ;  Ea. 
t  25 ;  Dan.  xii.  7 ;  Zach.  xii.  9,  &c.     (Gbot.) 


UNIVERSALITY    OF    IT.  301 

and  the  new  earth'  come  in  the  room  of  "  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  that  are  now,"  if  the  latter  are  to  be  suljected  to 
the  action  of  fire  to  the  extent  only  of  Rome  Papal  or 
Chri.stendora,  the  renovation  must  be  equally  limited.  But 
as  the  brethren  whose  views  of  this  passage  we  have  been 
examining  contend  for  a  renovation  of  the  whole  earthy  they 
must  give  up  their  limited  conflagration,  or  explain  this 
passage  in  the  most  capricious  and  inconsistent  style. 

These  and  similar  considerations  seem  indeed  to  press 
upon  their  own  minds,  insomuch  that  at  the  very  time  they 
are  endeavouring  to  narrow  this  conflagration  as  much  as 
possible,  in  order  to  avoid  the  fatal  difficulties  it  would 
otherwise  occasion  them,  they  do  reluctant  homage  to  the 
scriptural  and  almost  unanimous  expectation  of  a  universal 
conflagration.  Thus  Mr.  Elliott  says,  in  the  passage  already 
quoted :  •'  The  idea  of  some  other  and  more  universal  con- 
flagration at  the  general  judgment  is  not  hereby  excluded.''^ 
But  where  shall  we  find  any  "  other  conflagration,"  and 
"  more  universal"  than  this,  described  in  Scripture  ?  No- 
where. This  is  beyond  all  comparison  the  most  "  univer- 
sal" conflagration  announced  in  the  Bible :  and,  even  if 
there  were  any  other  worthy  of  being  compared  with  it, 
Mr.  Elliott  and  those  who  think  with  him  would  be  sure 
to  make  it  pre-millennial,  as  they  do  this.  The  above  ad- 
mission, therefore,  "  keeps  the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear, 
but  breaks  it  to  the  hope."  It  gives  the  author  the  benefit 
of  apparently  admitting  what  he  must  be  held  to  deny — a 
universal  conflagration.*  In  like  manner  we  have  seen 
that  Mr.   A.  Bonar  does  homage  to  the  universality — in 

*  That  Mr.  Elliott,  despite  his  admission,  does  not  believe  in  any 
"more  imiversal  confl  igration  at  the  general  judgment,"  is  phiin  from 
that  part  of  his  book  in  which  he  treats  of  the  close  of  the  millennium. 
Nothing  of  the  sort  is  so  much  as  hinted  at,  and  even  the  general  judg- 
ment itself  is  left  mysteriously  unapproached. 

3c 


302  FINAL    CONFLAGRATION — 

some  sense — of  the  conflagration,  while  contending  that  its 
action  is  limited  to  "  Europe."  "  It  may  be,"  he  cau- 
tiously says,  "  that  the  effects  of  the  conflagration  shall  be 
fdt  all  over  the  wide  world,  penetrating  through  the  earth, 
and  working  that  change  on  it  appointed  by  the  Lord." 
This  is  just  the  best  efibrt  which  that  estimable  brother 
could  make,  to  graft  what  every  one  perceives  to  be  the 
sense  of  the  passage  upon  a  sense  of  it  the  most  inadequate 
and  unnatural :  Indeed,  it  would  be  dif&cult  to  extract  from 
it  any  definite  meaning. 

Thus  sweeping^  then,  and  thus  penetrating^  is  this  confla- 
gration announced  so  magnificently  by  the  apostle  Peter ; 
so  all-involving  and  all-reducing^  that  many  able  critics  and 
divines  conceive  it  to  express  a  total  annihilation — of 
substance  as  well  as  form.  The  Lutheran  divines  for  the 
most  part  maintained  this,  but  were  opposed  with  great 
force  of  argument  by  the  Reformed  ;  who  contended  that 
BO  far  from  the  annihilation  of  our  physical  system,  in  its 
primary  elements,  being  here  expressed  or  implied,  the 
reverse  is  rather  conveyed — the  dissolution  of  its  present 
physical  constitution  only,  and  its  re-constitution  under 
new  and  higher  laws.  With  them  agreed  such  of  our  own 
divines  as  had  occasion  to  touch  upon  the  point,  as 
will  be  seen    from   the  extracts  given  below.*     But  the 

♦  "We  take  it  for  granted,"  says  Durham  (on  Rev.  xxi.  1),  "  that 
there  is  not  to  be  a  full  annihilation  of  this  universe  by  this  change  ,  . 
,  ,  .  yea  this  exception,  that  'there  shall  be  no  more  sea,'  confirmeth  it; 
for  it  supposeth  somewhat  more  to  befall  it  than  *  the  heaven  and  the 
earth,'  which  could  not  be  if  the  annihilation  of  all  were  absolute.  The 
question  therefore  lieth  mainly  in  this,  whether  that  change  be  substan- 
tial, so  that  these  heavens  and  this  earth  being  removed,  there  are  new 
heavens  and  new  earth  again  created;  or  whether  that  change  be  but  in 
respect  of  qualUies,  as  it  is  with  respect  to  the  body  of  man,  which  is 
raised  the  same  as  to  its  substance,  yet  so  as  to  its  qualities  it  may  he 
called  another,  for  its  spiritualness,  purity,  glory,  incorruptibleness,  &c. 

.  .  .  We  conceive  this  last  to  be  truth— that  as  the  heavens  and  earth 


ALL-INVOLVING—  ALL-REDUCING.  303 

very  existence  of  such  a  controversy  shows  how  very  far 
the  predicted  change  was,  on  all  hands,  felt  to  go. 

3.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  form,  out  of  the  two 

are  not  substantially  changed  or  annihilated,  so  the  new  earth  and 
heaven  succeeding  are  the  same  for  substance,  but  for  nature  more  stable, 
for  beauty  more  glorious,  for  use  free  from  the  abuses  sinful  men  put 
them  unto,  and  from  the  effects  of  the  curse  put  upon  them  for  man's 
sin — they  are  altogether  freed  and  set  at  liberty  from  these.  Therefore 
(Acts  iii.  21,)  it  is  called  '  the  time  of  the  restitution  of  all  thivgs.'  For 
confirmation  whereof,  we  may  consider  these  places  wherein  this 
change  is  most  expressly  mentioned :  As  Ps.  cii.  26,  with  Heb.  i.  10,  12; 
1  Cor.  vii.  31;  2  Pet.  iii.  10,  12,  13;  .  .  .  .  and  that  famous  place, 
Rom.  viii.  19-22,  where  the  scope  purposely  is  to  prove  the  glorious 
condition  the  saints  have  to  expect  after  this,  and  that  such  as  even 
senseless  creatures  wait  and  long  for,  as  being  to  be  made  partakers  of 
It  at  the  general  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God ;  where  observe,  1, 
That  by  'creature,^  in  the  singular  number  (v.  19,  20.)  is  understood  the 
universe  as  contradistinguished  from  the  elect,  and  such  a  creature  as 
by  the  sin  of  man  is  made  subject  to  vanity ;  and  so  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood of  the  whole  creation  simply,  as  certainly  neither  of  angels  nor  of 
the  seat  of  the  blessed*  ....  3.  That  the  'creature'  here  mentioned 
is  to  be  fully  delivered  from  the  effects  of  sin  and  the  curse  ....  be- 
cause (v.  21)  it  is  expressly  said  that  it  is  to  be  delivered  from  bondage, 
and  to  share  of  that  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God  ;  and  as  their  change  is 
not  substantial  but  qualitative — from  the  worse  to  the  better— so  shall 
it,  in  some  proportionable  suitable  manner,  be  freed  from  changes,  cor- 
ruption, &c.,  and  be  in  another  way  glorious.  These  excellent  privi- 
leges waited  for  by  the  creature  cannot  consist  either  with  annihilation 
or  substantial  change,  but  with  a  qualitative  mutation  far  to  the  bet- 
ter, though  we  cannot  in  every  thing  satisfy  our  curiosity  about  it, 
neither  should  we  aim  at  that." 

"This  liberty,"  says  Brown  (of  Wamphray — banished  1662),  "which 
the  creature  shall  at  that  day  enjoy,  shall  not  be  by  its  annihilation,  or 
being  reduced  to  nothing,  as  if  all  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of 
God,  to  which  it  shall  be  redeemed,  were  nothing  else  but  a  ceasing  to 
be  used  by  sinners  as  now  it  is  ;  seeing  we  hear  of  a  'netc  heaven  and  a 
new  earth'  (2  Pet.  iii.  13),  and  that  these  shall  only  be  'changed,^  Ps. 
cii.  26,"  &c.— {Expos  o/Ep.  to  Rom.— on  ch.  viii.  19-22.) 

•  Durham,  thougii  expecting  ''  the  heavens  and  the  earth  that  are  now,"  after 
undergoing  t  le  conflagration,  to  '•  result  in  the  new  heavens  and  earth— as  a  re- 
fined lump  from  which  the  dross  is  taken  away"— did  not  identify  this  with  "  th« 
Beat  of  the  blessed,"  and  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  was  to  be  its  destination. 


304  FINAL    CONFLAGRATION. 

former  explanations  of  the  conflagration,  a  third,  by  which 
some  of  the  foregoing  difficulties  are  avoided,  though  in  a 
way  not  more  to  be  approved  in  other  respects.  We  mean 
the  breaking  if  it  vp^  as  they  do  the  Judgment,  into  two  or 
more  conjlagrations  on  a  small  scale,  no  one  of  them  inter- 
fering to  any  great  extent  with  the  previous  state  of  things, 
but  all  of  them  together  accomplishing  the  change  de- 
scribed by  Peter. 

"  It  does  not,"  says  Mr.  Bickersteth,  "  appear  decisively,  from  any 
thing  in  St.  Peter's  account,  in  what  part  of  that  '  day  of  judgment,' 
'  the  day  of  the  Lord,  which  is  as  a  thousand  years,'  the  general  con- 
flagration may  take  place ;  or  whether  there  may  not  be,  as  some 
have  supposed,  a  partial  fire  at  the  beginning  (2  Thess,  i.  7,  8; 
Eev.  xix.  20),  and  another  more  complete  at  the  close  of  that  day. 
About  the  order  of  events  foretold,  and  in  what  part  of  that  order 
*the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth'  will  take  place,  there  is 
much  of  that  obscurity  in  which  unfulfilled  events  are  purposely 
left."* 

As  to  this  alleged  obscurity  regarding  the  time  of  the 
new  heavens  and  new  earth,  it  exists  only  in  those  minds 
which  the  pre-millennial  theory  puts  out  of  all  their  reckon- 
ings on  such  matters.  But,  whereas  here  are  introduced 
but  two  conflagrations,  the  following  passage  seems  to 
speak  of  something  more  than  this  : 

"  It  is  questioned,"  says  Mr.  Brooks,  "  what  will  be  the  process  of 
this  burning,  namely,  whether  all  at  once,  or  by  gradual  eruptions  of 
volcanic  matter,  and  to  what  extent  it  will  take  place."t 

The  note  here  introduced  we  copy  in  part,  to  show  how 
low  in  their  conceptions  of  those  "  new  heavens  and  new 
earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness,"  good  men  can  de- 
Bcend  when  under  the  influence  of  the  system  we  have 
been  investigating. 


♦  Guide,  p.  288.  t  Elem.,  p.  239. 


.NEW  HEAVENS  AND  EARTH PEOPLED  BY  WHOM?    305 

"  Some,"  he  saj^s,  "  have  argued,  that  the  conflagration  cannot  be 
until  the  annihilation  of  the  world,  on  the  ground  that  the  action  of 
fire  would  render  the  soil  unfit  for  the  use  of  man.  This  is  arguing 
in  ignorance  of  the  real  facts  of  the  case,  even  at  present ;  for  un- 
fruitful land  is  now  often  pared  and  burned  to  produce  a  soil,  and  the 
^oW  formed  by  triturated  lava  is  excellent .'" 

II.  But  we  have  still  to  ask,  how  the  inhabitants  of  "  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  that  are  now,"  are  tided  over  this  all- 
enveloping,  all-reducing  deluge  of  fire,  into  "  the  new  heav- 
ens and  the  new  earth,"  of  which  the  most  of  them  are  to  be 
the  occupants,  according  to  the  pre-millennial  theory.  As  to 
the  saints — raised  from  the  dead,  or  changed  when  Christ 
comes — there  is  no  difficulty.  Caught  up  in  the  clouds  to 
meet  the  Lord  in  the  air,  they  are  safe  enough  from  the 
conflagration,  if  in  their  risen  state  they  could  be  in  any 
danger  from  it.*  The  ungodly^  too,  are  out  of  the  way,  at 
least  the  most  of  them  ;  for  they  are  destroyed^  according  to 
the  pre-millennial  theory,  by  the  judgments  that  accompany 
the  second  advent,  f     But  a  "  reinnant "  of  this  class  is  ex- 


*  What  Mede  threw  out  as  a  modest  conjecture  in  one  of  his  letters, 
is  now  the  general  understanding  of  pre-millennialists  on  this  subject. 
"  What  (says  he)  if  this  rapture  of  the  saints  be,  that  they  may  be 
preserved  during  the  conflagration  of  the  earth  and  the  works  thereof 
2  Pet.  iii.  10,  that  as  Noah  and  his  family  were  preserved  from  the 
deluge  by  being  lift  up  above  the  waters  in  the  ark,  so  should  the  saints 
at  the  conflagration  be  lift  up  in  the  clouds  unto  their  Ark,  Christ,  to  be 
preserved  from  the  deluge  of  fire,  wherein  the  wicked  shall  be  con- 
sumed 7"— (P.  776.) 

t  If  you  ask.  With  what  kind  of  destruction  1  You  will  get  no 
satisfactory  answer.  Sometimes  you  would  think  it  were  by  flames  of 
fire  breaking  out  upon  them.  But,  judging  from  the  prophecies  to 
which  they  commonly  refer,  and  the  literal  sense  which  they  insist 
upon  giving  to  them,  they  appear  to  expect  one  vast  carnage — slaughter 
in  a  literal  battle  or  battles— "  the  land  soaked  with  blood,''  and  "all 
the  fowls  filled  with  flesh?'  And  this  is  what  they  term  the  judgment 
of  the  quick,  or  at  least  a  principal  part  of  it— miserable  view! 

2c2 


306  NO    SINNERS    IN    THE 

pected  to  survive  the  conflagration,  and  on  the  neia  earth 
to  find  themselves  associated  with  the  Jewish  nation  and 
the  vast  Gentile  world.  This  "  remnant,"  converted  amidst 
these  scenes,  are  to  become  missionaries  to  the  Pagan 
world  ;  while  the  Jews,  by  the  personal  appearing  of  Jesus 
to  them  as  their  Messiah,  are  to  be  brought  to  repentance 
and  the  acknowledgment  of  the  truth.  Thus,  "  the  new 
earth  "  is  to  be  tenanted  by  a  world  of  men  in  the  flesh, 

THE  VAST  MAJORITY  OF  WHOM,  AT  THE  FIRST,  ARE  TOTAL 
STRANGERS     TO      CuRIST,     AND      DEAD      IN      TRESPASSES      AND 

SINS.  And  this  is  "  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth, 
WHEREIN  DWELLETH  RIGHTEOUSNESS,"  which  "  we,  accord- 
ing to  his  promise,  look  for !"  This  statement  of  the 
apostle  can  have  but  one  meaning.  The  '"righteousness" 
which  is  to  distinguish  the  new  from  the  old  earth  does  not 
surely  mean  partial  righteousness,  for  that  exists  already  on 
the  old  earth.  It  can  only  mean  absolute  or  unmixed 
righteousness.  All  commentators  agree  in  this.*  But 
this  theory  does  not  even  people  the  new  earth  with  pre- 
vailhig  righteousness  ;  for,  until  the  Gentile  world  is  brought 
over  by  the  labours  of  the  •'  remnant,"  the  majority  of  man- 
kind will  be  unbelievers.  Who  can  possibly  take  this  in  ? 
Nay,  even  after  the  millennial  state  of  the  earth  is  at  its  me- 
ridian, hypocrisy  seems  not  to  be  excluded.  "  The  subjec- 
tion during  the  millennium,"  says  Mr.  Bickersteth,  "  not 
being  a  complete  and  full  subjection  of  the  heart  to  God, 
the  corruption  of  man  will,  at  its  close,  have  a  yet  further 
manifestation.  During  the  millennium  the  faithful  are 
mingled  with  those  who  only  yield  a  feigned  obedience. 
The    last    open    apostasy    removes    them    from    '  the  earthy 

*  Ix    ILLO    STATU    ERIT   JUSTITIA    PURA    SINE    VJTIO  ",    NON,     UT    XN  HOC 

BJECULO,  BONi  MALis  PERMixTi.  Huc  spectat  parabola  Mat.  xiii.  39, 
(30  7). —(Grot.)  Absoluta  tum  extabit  boni  et  mali  SEPAKAXia 
Matt.  iii.  12,  xiii.  30.— (Beng., 


NEW    HEAVENS    AND    NEW    EARTH.  307 

wherein  dwelleth  righieov.snsss,  (so  that  they  were  upon  '  the 
new  earth'  all  the  while.)"  Nay,  after  the  last  judgment, 
as  "  no  change  is  then  mentioned  as  passing  on  the  Jewish 
nation^  or  on  the  living  righteous^  who  continue  faithful  to 
God,"  they  "  continue  a  seed  to  serve  God  in  successive 
generations  of  the  eternal  state.*  Of  course,  if  this  be 
the  case,  mortality  and  sin,  the  corruption  of  nature,  and 
all  the  inseparable  accompaniments  of  these  things,  remain 
for  ever  on  the  "  new  earth." 

I  have  not  touched  upon  the  diflSculty  of  mortal  men 
surviviug  such  a  conflagration  as  we  have  found  to  be  pre- 
dicted by  Peter.  The  attempts  which  have  been  made  to 
get  over  that  difficulty  will  never  satisfy  any  dispassionate 
inquirer.  The  preservation  of  Noah's  family  from  the 
waters  of  the  deluge,  and  of  the  three  Hebrew  youths  in 
the  burning  fiery  furnace,  together  with  the  promise,  "I 
am  the  Lord  thy  God  ....  and  I  have  put  my  words  in 
thy  mouth,  and  I  have  covered  thee  loith  the  shadow  of  mine 
hand^  that  I  may  plant  the  heavens,  and  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  the  earth,  and  say  unto  Zion,  Thou  art  my  people,'* 
(Isa.  li.  16) — have  been  appealed  to,  but  in  vain.f  I  do 
not  in  the  least  question  the  power  of  God  to  preserve  from 
fire  as  well  as  water,  and  a  whole  world  as  easily  as  three 
individuals.  But  Noah's  flood  of  water  was  but  typical  of 
this  deluge  of  fire,  and  the  type  ever  comes  short  of  the 
antitype.  That  was  Christ's  coming  to  judgment,  in  a  sort, 
but  not  his  second  personal  advent  to  pass  "  eternal  judg- 
ment" upon  men.  Other  difi"erences  will  readily  occur ; 
but  this  is  enough  to  show,  that  though  there  be  a  manifest 
analogy  between  the  cases,  the  analogy  must  not  be  over- 
driven. As  to  the  three  youths,  and  the  promise  to  *•  Zion" 
which  we  have  quoted,   though  we  should  admit    that  it 

*  Lent  Lect.  for  1843,  ut  supra,  pp.  330,  331. 

t  See  Birks  (Proph.  Emp.,  ut  supra,  pp.  324,  325),  and  others. 


NEW    HEAVENS    AND    NEW    EAPwTH. 

gave  ground  to  expect  the  preservation  of  God's  covenarU 
people  in  the  conflagration,  what  ground  does  it  give  to  ex- 
pect the  preservation  of  God's  enemies  1 

Thus  hopelessly  opposed  is  the  pre-millennial  scheme  to 
the  Scripture  testimony  regarding  the  conflagration,  and 
"  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness."  I  have  examined  all  the  attempts  at  re- 
conciliation deserving  of  notice,  and  shown  them  to  be 
alike  incompatible  with  the  inspired  descriptions  of  the 
change.  On  this  head,  therefore,  nothing  remains  but  to 
embody  in  a  proposition,  as  under  the  previous  heads,  what 
is  all  but  universally  acknowledged  as  the  truth  on  this 
branch  of  our  subject. 

PROPOSITION  NINTH: 

At  Christ's  second  appearing,  "the  heavens  and  the 
earth  that  are  now,"  being  dissolved  by  fire,  shall 
give  place  to  "new  heavens  and  a  new  earth, 
wherein  dwelleth  righteousness"  without  any 
mixture  of  sin good  unalloyed   by  the  least  evil. 

The  observations  already  made  sufficiently  illustrate  this 
proposition.  But  as  I  have  beeu  silent  on  one  of  the  pas- 
sages which  we  placed  in  the  fore  front  of  this  chapter,  I 
may  here  state  wherein  its  importance  in  the  present  argu- 
ment appears  to  me  to  lie.  I  refer  to  Rev.  xx.  1 1  ;  xxi.  1 ; 
"  And  I  saro  a  great  white  throne,  and  him  that  sat  on  it,  from 
whose  face  the  earth  and  tJie  heaven  jied  away  ;  and  there  icas 
found  no  place  for  them.  .  .  .  And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and 
a  new  earth :  for  the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  had 
passed  away  ;  and  there  was  no  more  sca?^ 

That  the  change  here  described   is  posterior  to  the  las* 


SUMMARY    OF    WHOLE    PRECEDING    ARGUMENT.      309 

judgment,  and  not  prior  to  it,  has  been  fully  proved  by 
writers  on  both  sides  of  the  millennial  controversy: — by  Mr. 
Birks,  for  example,  and  by  Mr.  Gipps*  By  putting  this 
passage,  then,  in  Revelation  alongside  of  the  passage  in 
Peter,  we  obtain  the  following  argument,  which  I  believe 
it  to  be  impossible  to  answer ' — 

The  conflagration  and  passing  away  of  the  heavens  will 
be  "  as  a  thief  in  the  night,  iw"  or  *'  at  the  day  of  the 
Lord" — the  time  of  his  second  advent.     (2  Pet.  iii.) 

But  the  "  fleeing"  or  "  passing  away"  of  •'  the  earth  and 
the  heaven"  is  posterior  to  the  last  judgment,  and  conse- 
quently to  the  millennium.     (Rev.  xx.,  xxi.) 

Therefore,  the  second  advent  is  posterior  to  the  millen- 
nium. 


Here  ends  my  chain  of  Scripture  evidence  against  the 
pre-millennial  theory. 

We  have  seen  that  when  Christ  comes,  the  Church 
which  he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood  will  be  abso- 
lutely and  numerically  complete — admitting  of  no  subse- 
quent accessions. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Bible  makes  the  hopes  and  the 
fears  of  all  men  to  turn  upon  the  second  coming  of  Christ, 
as  an  event  future  to  every  human  being,  and  makes  no 
provision  for  the  bringing  in  of  any  after  it. 

We  have  seen  that  baptism,  and  with  it  the  gathering 
and  training  of  disciples  for  glory,  and  the  whole  media- 
torial power  and  presence  of  Christ  for  saving  purposes,  are 
ordained  to  continue  till  ''•  the  end  of  the  world" — the  ad- 
mitted period  of  Christ's  second  coming — and  not  beyond 

♦  Birks'  "  Four  Prophetic  Empires,"  ut  supra,  p.  306,  &.c.  Gippa' 
"  First  Resurrection,"  p.  13,  note  H  ;  and  see  p.  67. 


310  SUMMARY. 

it ;  and  that,  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  Redeemer's  death  is 
to  be  showed  forth  only  "  till  he  come." 

We  have  seen  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  just  the 
kingdom  of  grace  in  the  hands  of  the  Mediator — a  king- 
dom already  in  existence — ^virtually  ever  since  the  fall,  and 
formally  since  his  ascension  to  the  right  hand  of  power ; 
and  that  it  will  continue  unchanged,  both  in  character  and 
form,  till  the  final  judgment,  when,  in  its  state  of  glory,  it 
becomes  "  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ" — "  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God." 

We  have  seen  that  at  Christ's  second  coming,  his  whole 
Church — "  all  that  the  Father  hath  given  him" — shall  be 
made  alive  at  once,  the  dead  being  raised  and  the  living 
changed  ;  and  that,  at  the  same  time,  all  the  wicked  shall 
stand  up  in  a  resurrection  state — the  whole  human  race 
appearing  together  before  the  great  white  throne. 

We  have  seen  that  when  Christ  comes,  the  whole  human 
race  will  be  tried  together  for  eternity  at  his  judgment-seat. 

Finally,  we  have  seen  that  at  Christ's  second  coming, 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  that  are  now,  being  dissolved, 
shall  disappear,  and  be  succeeded  by  "  new  heavens  and  a 
new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness,"  without  the 
least  mixture  of  sin — good  unalloyed  by  aught  of  evil. 

Each  of  these  Scripture  views  of  the  second  advent  is 
diametrically  opposed  to  the  pre-millennial  theory,  and 
subversive  of  it.  Taken  together,  they  form  a  chain  of 
.evidence  against  it  of  such  strength,  that,  if  rejected  as  in- 
sufficient, it  will  be  hard  to  refute  any  error  or  to  establish 
any  truth  from  the  word  of  God. 


PART    II. 

THE  MILLEMItJM. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    MILLENNIUM HOW    BROUGHT    ABOUT. 

If  the  pre-millennial  theory  be  unscriptural,  it  must  of 
course  teach  unscriptural  views  of  the  millennium  as  well 
as  of  the  second  advent.  That  it  does  so  I  now  proceed  to 
show  under  different  heads,  pointing  out  under  each  the 
opposite  truth. 

The  first  in  order  of  these  errors  relates  to  the  way  in 
which  the  subjection  of  all  nations  to  Christ  is  to  be  brought 
about 

The  millennial  conversion  of  the  world  to  Christ  is  not 
expected  to  take  place  by  the  agencies  now  in  operation^  bul 
altogether  in  a  new  way. 

That  on  which    most    dependence    seems  to  be  placed, 

is     THE    PERSONAL    MANIFESTATION    OF     ChRIST  ;     but    tO    this 

are  added  judgments  on  the  Antichristian  nations,  and  a 
Pentecostal  effusion  of  the  Spirit.  On  all  these  agencies 
they  write  with  great  looseness,  and  distressing  are  the 
sneers  which  they  sometimes  throw  out  at  alleged  attempts 
to  convert  the  world  by  means  of  Bible  and  Missionary 
Societies,  and  their  ill-disguised  insinuations — sometimes 
not  disguised  at  all — against  the  word  and  the  blessed 
SPIRIT  themselves,  as  inadequate  to  accomplish  the  predicted 
evangelization  of  the  world. 

"  The  more  common  opinion,"  says  Dr.  M'Neih,  "is,  that  this  is 
the  final  dispensation,  and  that  by  a  more  copious  outpouring  of 
2d 


314  DR.   M'NEILE,  MR.   BROOKS,   MR.   TYSO, 

the  Holy  Spirit  it  will  magnify  itself,  and  swell  into  the  universal 
blessedness  predicted  by  the  prophets,  carrying  with  it  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  even  the  whole  world,  in  one  glorious  flock  under  one  Shep- 
herd, Jesus  Christ  the  Lord.  This  is  reiterated  from  pulpit,  press,  and 
platform.  It  is  the  usual  climax  of  missionary  exhortation,  or  rather 
missionary  prophecy,"* 

"  Multitudes  of  professors  of  religion,"  says  Mr.  Brooks,  "  aro 
At  this  time  under  a  delusion  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  those 
events  which  are  impending  over  the  Church  of  Christ.  The 
generality  are  agreed  that  a  great  crisis  is  at  hand,  and  likewise 
that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  the  millennium;  but  the  party  just 
alluded  to  are  disposed  to  think,  that  ...  we  are  to  glide  ijito 
it,  as  it  were,  by  the  instrumentality  of  our  various  institutions  for 
evangelizing  the  heathen;  by  means  of  which  there  will  be  a 
gradual  in/:reasing  diffusion  of  scriptural  light,  until  the  whole 
earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea — (Isa.  xi.  9.)  ....  As  regards,  however, 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  which  is  the  millennial  kingdom,-\  the  testi- 
mony of  Scripture  is  most  abundant  to  the  fact,  that  it  is  to  be 
ushered  in  by  desolating  judgments ;  and  that  the  universal  pre- 
valence of  religion  hereafter  to  be  enjoyed,  is  not  to  be  effected  by 
any  increased  impetus  given  by  the  present  means  of  evangelizing  the 
nations,  but  by  a  stupendous  display  of  Divine  wrath  upon  all  the 
apostate  and  ungodly."  % 

"  The  Scriptures,"  says  Mr.  Tyso,  "  do  state  the  design  of  the 
Gospel,  and  what  it  is  to  effect ;  but  they  never  say  it  is  to  convert 
the  world.  Its  powers  have  been  tiied  for  eighteen  hundred  years,  and 
it  has  never  yet  truly  converted  one  nation,  one  city,  one  town, 
nor  even  a  single  village.  Yet  some  Christians  are  vainly  sup- 
posing that  it  will,  'by  a  gradual  and  accelerated  progression,' 
convert  the  world The  Scriptures  never  state  that  ^Ae 


*  Lect.  on  the  Jews,  ut  supra,  p.  72. 

t  Note  here,  by  the  way,  this  naked  acknowledgment,  that  Christ's 
kingdom  is  not  yet  in  being.  Attempts  are  now  made  to  represent  this 
as  no  part  of  the  pre-niiilennial  creed ;  but  whether  this  can  be  said  of 
the  author  of  AbdieVs  Essays,  at  least  let  the  reader  judge  from  the  abov« 
extract. 

X  Elem  of  Proph.  Interp.  pp.  227,  228. 


AND    MR.    OGILVY REMARKS    ON    THEIR    VIEWS.     315 

Gospel^  or   Christian  economy,  will  be  the  means  of  converting  the 

world That  the  world  is  to  be  converted  is  evident  from 

many  Scriptures ;  but  they  ascribe  it  pnncipally  to  other  causes, 
and  not,  as  our  opponents  will  have,  entirely  to  tlw  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  In  all  cases  the  Jews  will  have  a  pre-eminence.  '  To  the 
Jews  first;'  and  their  restoration  will  be  to  the  Gentiles  as  life 
from  the  dead,"  Sui* 

"  The  Christian,"  says  Mr.  Ogilvy,-^  "  sees  this  command  writ- 
ten in  ligible  characters,  '  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature,'  and  he  feels  it  to  be  his  duty  to 
do  so,  for  he  does  not  know  who  may  or  who  may  not  receive  it ; 
but  he  does  not  find  it  dead,  and  your  preaching  shall  sooner  or 
later  convert  the  whole  world ;  therefore  he  does  not  draw  that  conclusion. 
.  .  .  .  He  further  finds  that  the  kingdom  and  universal  Church 
are  to  be  established,  not  by  gradual  conversion,  or  by  conversion 
more  or  less  rapid  under  this  dispensation,  but  by  the  personal  ad- 
vent of  our  Lord  himself,  and  all  the  remarkable  events  thai  accom-' 
pany  it.^^X 

Can  any  thing  be  looser  than  these  statements,  or  more 
painful  than  the  inferences  which  they  suggest  1  A  few 
paragraphs  will  put  the  matter  upon  its  right  footing. 

1.  The  question  here  is  not,  Whether  the  conversion  of  the 
world  is  to  be  quick  or  slow,  gradual  or  instantaneous ;  but 
Will  the  means  of  effecting  the  predicted  changes  be  the  same 
as  are  now  in  operation,  or  will  they  be  different  1  Will  the 
camse  of  them  be  the  same  as  of  conversions  now^i  or  will  it 
not  ?  Nor  let  these  writers  shelter  themselves  under  such  ex 

*  Defence  of  the  Personal  Reign  of  Christ,  pp.  41,  42.  1841.  Another 
work  of  this  author  is  most  favourably  noticed  in  the  ^^Investigator  of 
Prophtaj^''  though  on  some  points  the  writers  differ. 

t  Mr,  Bickersteth  specially  notices  the  omission  of  all  reference  to 
this  author  in  my  former  edition,  i  had  not  then  read  it;  but  having 
since  procured  it,  and  found  nothing  new  in  it,  I  content  myself  with  an 
occasional  reference  to  it,  just  to  show  that  on  such  a  point  as  this  th« 
sentiment  ascribed  to  pre-millennialists  is  not  peculiar  to  one  or  two 
writers. 

X  Popular  Objections  to  the  Pre-millennial  Advent  Considered.  Bj 
Geo.  Ogiivy,  Esq.,  pp.  216,  217.     Second  edition.     1S47. 


316  VIESSRS.    BONAR. 

pressions  as  "  our  various  institutions  for  evangelizing  the 
heathen" — "  the  present  means  of  evangelizing  the  nations." 
These,  they  know  well,  are  but  vehicles  for  conveying  the 
Gospel  to  a  world  of  perishing  sinners  ;  and  as  they  find  no 
fault  with  them  as  such,  and  never  hint  that  their  inadequacy 
to  convert  the  world  lies  in  the  defective  or  unscriptural  way 
in  which  they  are  wrought,  it  is  plain  that  by  "  the  institu- 
tions for  evangelizing  the  heathen" — "  the  present  means 
of  evangelizing  the  nations," — they  just  mean  the  Gospel  it- 
self  in  any  way  that  the  Church  can  now  convey  it  to  the 
world.  Accordingly  one  of  the  writers  we  have  quoted 
explicitly  states,  not  that  our  Bible  and  missionary  societies 
have  failed,  but  that  the  gospel  itself  has  failed,  to  accom- 
plish any  general  conversion — for  want  of  power  to  effect 
it.  "  Its  powers  have  been  tried  for  eighteen  hundred 
years,"  and  this  is  the  result.  But  even  this  writer  is 
forced  to  soften  down  his  language  in  the  end.  The 
world's  conversion  is  to  take  place  "  principally^^  through 
these  "  other  causes  ;"  nay,  it  is  only  "  not  entirely"  to 
be  brought  about  by  "  the  preaching  of  the  Grospcl." 
And  this  he  follows  up  by  telling  us  of  the  pre-eminence 
the  Jews  are  to  have,  and  how  their  recovery  is  to  be  to 
the  Gentile  world  as  life  from  the  dead.  What  matters  it 
to  our  question  in  what  order  the  thing  takes  place,  and 
what  special  influence  in  forwarding  it  particular  events 
may  have  1  The  one  question  is,  "  Will  this  general  con- 
version, come  when  and  by  what  instrumentality  it  may, 
consist,  as  conversion  now  does,  of  the  receplioji  by  sinners 
of  a  preached  Gospel  ?■'' 

The  Messrs.  Bonar^  indeed,  seem  to  hold  that  it  will, 
and  so  to  admit  all  we  ask.  But — so  far  as  I  am  able  to 
understand  their  language — it  is  but  a  more  subtle  way  of 
saying  the  same  thing. 

"  The  Gospel  (says  Mr.  A  Bonar)  is  the  instrument  in 


THEIR   VIEWS  TllIED   BY  THE   REDEEMER'S   WORDS.  31? 

the  Lord's  hand  for  converting  the  world — it  will  always 
be  the  one  instrument  in  the  Spirit's  hand."  But  he  doea 
not  design  "  so  to  use  it  at  presenV^ — ^"  in  this  dispcnsa 
Hon  thai  precedes  the  Lord^s  coming:"  and  to  look  for  it 
before  Christ  come  is  but  " a  visionary  hope"  which  mis- 
sionaries should  not  cherish.  He  has  heard  missionaries 
"  regret  deeply  that  the  Church  at  home  should  be 
dazzled  by  the  vain  hope  of  conversions  on  a  grand  scale." 
If  the  missionary  would  "  see  that  tJie  gathering  out 
of  the  elect  is  his  sole  hope"  he  would  be  "far  less  dis- 
heartened by  opposition  than  when  he  vahdy  expected  every 
day  to  see  symptoms  of  national  and  universal  conversimi." 
And  if  "  it  would  be  wrong,  grievously  wrong,  to  say  that 
the  Grospel  is  not  the  instrument  in  the  Lord's  hand  for 
converting  the  world,  equally  wrong  is  it  to  say  that  the 
Lord  is  so  to  use  it  at  present."* 

If  ever  a  statement  went  directly  in  the  face  of  the  Re- 
deemer's own  words,  this  surely  is  one. 

"  AU  power,"  said  .Jesus  to  his  disciples  and  their  successors  in 
every  age,  "  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.     Go  ye 

THERKPORE,    AND    MAKE    DISCIPLES    OF    ALL    NATIONS,    haipHzing 

them  in  the  riame  of  the  Father,  and  of  tlie  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded 

you;    AND,  LO,  I  AM  WITH  YOU  ALWAY,  EVEN  UNTO  THE  END  OP 

THE  WORLD." — (Matt,  xxviii.  18-20.) 

Happily,  there  is  no  dispute  about  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase,  "  the  end  of  the  world,"  here.  It  is  agreed  on  all 
hands,  as  I  have  had  occasion  to  remark  before,  that  the 
period  or  state  of  things  denoted  by  it  terminates  with  the 
second  coming  of  Christ.  So  that  the  sense  would  have 
been  quite  the  same  if,  instead  of  saying  "  unto  the  end  of 
the  world"  the  Lord  had  said,  "  until  I com,e  again."  Thus, 
then,  the  disciples  were   commissioned  to  evangelize    thsa 

*  Redemption,  &c.,  pp.  186,  187. 
2d2 


S18    ALL  NATIONS  BROUGHT  IN   BEFORE  CHRIST  COMES. 

world  before  Christ's  second  commg  ;  not  merely  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  "  for  a  witness,^^  to  a  world  that  would  not 
receive  it  till  he  came  again — "  to  gather  out  the  few  elect," 
as  Mr.  Bonar  expresses  it,  as  contradistinguished  from  the 
world  at  large,  to  be  brought  in  only  after  the  second  ad- 
vent— but  to  accomplish,  instrumentally,  the  actual  "  dis- 
cipleship  of  all  nations,^'  to  baptize  them  when  gathered  in, 
and  to  train  them  up  as  professed  Christians  in  the  know- 
ledge and  obedience  of  the  truth,  for  glory — all  before  his 
second  coming  In  the  doing  of  this,  He  promises  to  be 
with  them — not  merely  to  stand  by  them  while  preaching  a 
rejected  Gospel,  and  to  note  their  fidelity,  but  clearly  to  pros- 
per the  work  of  their  hands  unto  the  actual  evangelization  of 
the  world  at  large,  before  his  coming.  "  Those  (says  Mr. 
Bonar)  that  deny  the  pre-millennial  coming  ....  have  led 
themselves  and  others  to  expect  that  at  this  present  time,  in 
this  dispensation  that  precedes  the  Lord's  coming,  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  to  be  followed  up  with  national 
conversions,  or  at  least  conversion  and  reformation  in  the 
dense  masses  of  the  world's  population."  No,  brother,  we 
have  not  "  led  ourselves  ;"  but  thy  Master  and  ours — who 
tremble,  as  we  doubt  not  thou  dost,  at  the  word  of  the 
Lord — hath  constrained  us  to  believe  that  not  "  the  few 
elect,"  as  contradistinguished  from  the  world  at  large,  but 
that  very  world  at  large,  is  to  be  gained  over  to  Christ,  in  the 
only  sense  in  which  the  world  at  large  ever  will  be  Christ's 
"  i7i  this  dispensation  that  precedes  the  Lord^s  comingV 

But  what  I  wish  specially  to  note,  is  the  connexion  be- 
tween ths  present  exercise  of  the  work  of  the  ministry — at 
home  by  pastors,  and  abroad  by  missionaries — and  this 
evangelization  of  all  nations  as  the  result.  To  expect  this 
result,  in  the  believing  and  prayerful  use  of  the  prescribed 
means,  is  nothing  else  but  to  rely  on  GhrisCs  vjord  of  pro^ 
mise;  and  to  expect  it  in  the  -^  presem'^  use  of  the  means, 


MR.    H.    BONAR    AND    DR.    BOGUE.  319 

or  '•  in  this  dispensation  that  precedes  the  Lord's  coming," 
is  merely  to  presume  that  the  Lord  means  what  he  says. 
Yet  this  is  what  Mr.  Bonar  ventures  to  call  "  a  vain  "  and 
"  visionary  hope'^  "  dazzling  the  Church  at  home,"  and  fitted 
only  to  "  dishearten"  missionaries  abroad.  Say  we  not  wellj 
that  the  pre-millennial  theory  paralyses  missionary  effort  by 
paralysing  missionary  expectation  ? 

To  the  same  effect,  Mr.  H.  Bonar.  "  Do  I  paralyse 
effort  (he  asks)  when  I  say, '  Work  while  it  is  day,  for  the 
night  Cometh  when  no  man  can  work  V  "  No,  I  reply,  not 
when  you  say  "  work ;"  but  when  you  teach  the  workman 
not  to  expect  the  promised  result,  then  you  paralyse  effort. 

I  cannot  illustrate  this  better,  nor  more  effectually  show 
the  bearings  of  the  pre-millennial  theory  upon  missionary 
work,  than  by  quoting  a  passage  in  which  Mr.  H.  Bonar 
administers  a  lofty  and  imposing  rebuke  to  the  late  excel- 
lent Dr.  Bogue  of  Gosport,  one  of  the  original  founders  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  the  wonderful  success  of 
which  in  the  South  Seas  and  elsewhere  filled  his  soul  with 
burning  desires  for  the  universal  triumph  of  the  G-ospel.  and 
joyous  anticipations  of  the  near  approach  of  that  consum- 
mation. True,  he  lived  not  to  see  some  things  which  we 
have  witnessed,  and  which  would  probably  have  modified 
his  language  ;  the  revived  missionary  zeal,  too,  of  the 
Church,  then  in  the  warmth  of  its  first  love,  would  natu- 
rally be  estimated  at  more  than  its  real  value.  But  for 
myself,  I  am  willing  to  underlie  the  castigation  adminis- 
tered to  that  venerated  servant  of  Christ — now  indeed 
beyond  its  reach — for  what  is  extracted  by  Mr.  Bonar  from 
his  "  Discourses  on  the  Millennium.''^ 

"  Of  what  use  would  it  be,"  asks  Mr.  H.  Bonar,  "  to  cheat  or 
dazzle  men  by  such  rhetoric  as  the  following  [from  Dr.  Bogue]  1— 
'  Was  there  ever  a  period  in  the  history  of  our  world  in  which 
80  many  vistas  of  glorious  hope  opened  to  mankind  as  at  the  \}TQ- 


i 


320  MISSIONARY    EFFORT    PARALYSED. 

sent  moment  1  Let  the  siege  which  has  so  auspiciojsly  com- 
menced upon  the  forces  of  the  enemy,  be  kept  up  with  ever- 
growing skill  and  determination ;  let  existing  advantages  be 
seized  upon  with  a  resolution  worthy  of  the  cause ;  let  the  armiea 
of  the  living  God  muster  their  whole  strength,  and  go  forth  to 
the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty,  and  erelong  the  camp 
of  the  enemy  shall  be  seized  with  sudden  overwhelming  dread; 
the  legions  of  darkness  shall  flee  apace,  and  the  conquest  of  a 
world  shall  be  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.'  Well 
spoken !  But  what  if  it  be  all  a  dream !  Go  forth  (fond  theo- 
rist!) from  the  study  or  the  pulpit,  and  look  on  Europe  now.  Is 
there  aught  ....  in  the  turbid  swelling  of  the  great  deluge  of 
European  atheism  on  which  to  build  such  ' glorious  hopes  1'"  &,c * 

Where,  I  desire  to  ask,  is  the  "  cheat"  practised  by  Dr. 
Bogue  ?  Is  it  in  assuring  his  readers  that  "  let  the  siege 
so  auspiciously  commenced  upon  the  forces  of  the  enemy 
he  kept  up  with  ever-growing  skill  and  determination^^ — 
that  "  let  existing  advantages  be  seized  upon  with  a  resolu- 
tion worthy  of  the  cause" — that  "  let  the  armies  of  the  liv- 
ing God  muster  their  ivhole  strength^  and  go  forth  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty  ;"  and  then^ "  erelong" — 
Dr.  Bogue  does  not  presume  to  say  how  long,  but  "  erelong," 
or,  as  the  Apostle  says  about  Christ's  coming,  "  yet  a  little 
while" — "  the  camp  of  the  enemy  shall  tremble  and  flee, 
and  the  world  be  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High?" 
Is  this  the  "  cheat  ?"  For  myself,  I  believe  it  most  pro- 
foundly ;  and  if,  with  such  views,  Mr.  Bonar  asks,  "  Do  I 
paralyse  effort  ?"  I  answer —  Yes.  Not  only  does  the 
Lord's  commission  authorize  the  expectation  that  all  nations 
shall  be  evangelized  "  at  the  present  time — in  this  dispensa- 
tion that  precedes  the  Lord's  coming" — but  the  very  expec- 
tation of  this  result  from  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  will  be 
a  prime  and  hidispensable  element  of  success  ;  and  therefore 
it  is  to  paralyse  effort  to  calumniate  such  expectations,  and 

♦  Coming  and  Kingdom,  &-c.,  pp.  152,  153. 


JUDGMENTS EFFUSION    OF    THE    SPIRIT.  321 

let  those  who  talk  of  "  cheating  and  dazzling  men"  with 
"  visionary  hopes,"  have  a  care  at  Whose  door  their  charges 
ultimately  lie. 

2.  On  the  jiidgments  which  are  to  usher  in  the  millen- 
nium I  have  nothing  to  say,  except  to  notice  the  false  posi^ 
tion  assigned  to  them  in  such  statements  as  the  following, 
already  quoted  : — "  The  universal  prevalence  of  true  reli- 
gion (says  Mr  Brooks),  hereafter  to  be  enjoyed,  is  not  to  be 
effected  by  any  increased  impetus  given  to  the  present 
means  of  evangelizing  the  nations,  but  by  a  stupendous  dis- 
play of  the  Divine  truth  upon  all  the  apostate  and  ungodly" 
— as  if  judgments  would  do  what  "  the  gospel  had  failed 
to  accomplish" — •'  evangelize  the  nations."  Let  Mr.  H. 
Bonar  rebuke  this  view  of  the  judgments  of  God.  "  We 
look  (says  he)  upon  the  judgments,  at  the  Lord's  coming, 
in  the  same  light  (though  differing  in  degree)  as  we  do 
upon  any  judgment  of  God's  hand.  .  .  .  He  may  use  these 
awful  calamities  just  as  he  now  uses  afflictions,  but  the 
power  and  the  glory  are  his  alone."*  Mr.  Brooks,  indeed, 
would  not  deny  that  the  power  and  glory  of  conversion,  in 
every  case,  belong  to  God  ;  but  by  contrasting '}\idign\QXiiB  with 
a  preached  Gospel,  he  makes  the  instrumentality  ihdii  will  be 
employed  in  converting  '•  the  nations,"  something  different 
from  what  is  now  employed  in  every  case  of  conversion. 

3.  A  word  or  two  on  the  effusion  of  the  Spirit^  in  vir- 
tue of  which  those  extensive  conquests  of  the  nations  to 
Christ  are  to  be  brought  about.  We  should  like  to  hear 
more  about  this,  I  do  not  for  a  moment  doubt  that  those 
whose  writings  1  am  now  examining  are  at  one  with  me 
in  expecting  such  effusion.  But  do  they  believe  that  it 
may  come  "  at  this  present  time — in  this  dispensation  that 
precedes  the  Lord's  coming  ?"  We^  believing  that  the  "  dis- 
cipling  of  all  nations"  is  to  be  effected,  as  the  Lord  him- 

*  Coming  and  Kingdom,  pp.  51,  52. 


323    Christ's  personal  appearing — miracles. 

self  assures  us,  before  he  comes — of  course  look  for  those 
copious  showers  of  the  Spirit  which  alone  can  make  the 
word  efficacious  to  do  it.  They — believing  that  the  conver- 
sion of  the  nations  is  uot  to  be  till  after  the  Lord  come — • 
of  course  do  not  look  f&'  the  Spirit  to  effect  it  by  any  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  that  z.',  or  can  be  now  set  on  foot.  And  is 
not  this  to  "  paralyse  effort  ?" 

4.  I  will  not  dwell  upon  the  converting  efficacy  ascribed 
to  Chrisfs  personal  appearing ;  because,  though  such  pas- 
sages as,  "  They  shall  look  on  me  whom  they  have  pierced" 
— -"  Behold,  he  cometh  with  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see 
him,"  are  frequently  referred  to  in  proof  of  this,  there  seems 
a  general  disposition  to  admit  that  it  is  the  Word  and  the 
Spirit  to  which  even  these  men  will  owe  their  conversion, 
just  as  now;  and,  consequently,  that  the  very  sight  of 
Christ  in  person  will  only  be  one  of  the  means  by  which 
such  conversion  will  be  aided,  like  other  striking  events, 
though  none  will  be  so  striking  as  this.  Strange,  indeed, 
that  when  Christ  "  cometh  in  his  own  glory,  and  in  the 
glory  of  the  Father  and  of  the  holy  angels" — when  he 
"  cometh  with  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see  him" — that 
the  most  stupendous,  bright,  and  awful  of  all  events  should 
just  rank  amongst  the  means  by  which  men  at  the  millen- 
nium are  to  be  converted  ! 

Some  look  to  the  revival  of  miracles  as  one  great  means 

of  the  rapid  conversions  which  are  to  signalise  the  latter  day. 

But   in   vain.       As  we  do  not  need  them,  so  the  soul  in  a 

-/-  healthy  state  does  not  desire  them.     The  Church  is  in  its 

manhood^  and  miracles  are  for  its  infancy*     Souls  that  have 

*  The  Scripture  doctrine  oi physical,  as  contrasted  with  moral  miracles, 
deducible  from  such  passages  as  John  iv.  48,  49,  compared  with  chapter 
XX.  29;  John  xiv.  12;  i.  50,  5L  and  Luke  xvi.  27-31,  suggests  a  line  of 
thought  quite  adverse  to  any  expectation  of  physical  manifestations, 
such  as  floats  loosely  in  the  minds  of  not  a  few  whose  apprehensions  in 
every  other  respect  are   .h)r»^'2ghly  scriptural.    The  above  passages  indi- 


church's  present  resources  all-sufficient.  323 

felt  the  Saviour's  grace  know  right  well  its  matchless  power. 
After  their  own  conversion,  they  can  never  doubt  its  con- 
verting efl&cacy  on  any  scale  that  may  be  required.  The 
Spirit  in  the  hand  of  Christ,  and  the  word  in  the  hand  of 
the  Spirit,  as  they  are  the  present  agency  for  converting  sin- 
ners, and  perfecting  saints,  and  advancing  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom  in  the  world — so  they  are  all  that  we  are  taught 
to  ascribe  the  glories  of  the  latter  day  to.  And  quite 
enough.  That  these  spiritual  glories  are  not  now  irradiat- 
ing the  world — that  they  have  not  long  ago  chased  away 
the  darkness  with  which  the  usurping  "  god  of  this  world" 
has  been  permitted  to  cover  it — is  owing  to  no  defect  in  the 
•present  resources  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  economy  under 
which  it  is  placed.  That  more  fidelity  on  the  Church's 
part  would  have  hastened  the  predicted  consummation,  is 
language  which  we  are  fully  warranted  in  using.  But  He 
to  whom  "  are  known  all  his  works  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world,"  has  ordered  the  "  times  and  the  seasons"  in 
such  mysterious  correspondence  with  the  faithlessness  of 
his  Church,  as  to  bring  out,  in  affecting  relief,  his  own  sole 
glory  in  the  long  promised  subjugation  of  the  world  to 
Christ,  and  the  utter  worthlessuess  of  his  people  as  the  in- 
struments of  it.  With  a  view  to  this,  he  suffers  the  Church 
to  lie  for  ages  in  ignoble  ease,  in  pitiful  leanness,  in  a  state 
of  carnality  which  at  once  blights  its  fruits,  poisons  its 
streams,  and  rends  it  in  pieces ; — while  the  world,  all  un- 
pitied,  lies  powerless  in  the  enemy's  hand  and  its  dark 
places  are  full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty.  But  when 
"  the  time  to  favour  Zion  comes,  even  the  set  time,"  it  will 
be  seen  that  it  needed  but  the  agencies  of  this  present  dis- 

cale  that  such  manifestations  are  suited,  as  they  were  granted,  to  an  in- 
fei-ior  and  infantile  condition  of  the  Church  ;  while  the  absence  not  only 
of  the  manifestations  themselv3s,  but  of  all  desire  for  them,  is  characte^ 
iBtic  of  the  Church's  manhood 


324  church's  present  resources  all-sufficient. 

pensation  to  be  brought  into  full  play  to  accomplish  all  that 
is  promised  :  and  then  will  it  appear  what  a  mine  of  wealth 
and  what  a  magazine  of  power  for  the  spiritual  recovery  of 
a  diseased  world  were  in  possession  of  the  Church's  Head, 
and  were  all  along  the  dowery  of  his  people.  The  heart 
delights  to  dwell  on  this  prospect.  It  desires  to  see  what 
Christ  can  do  by  his  Word  and  Spirit.  When  by  these 
he  does  all  they  are  competent  to — when  they  have  ex- 
hausted their  ability,  and  the  work  stands  still  for  want  of 
something  else — then  we  may  be  reconciled  to  new  methods^ 
and  may  look  out  for  a  new  dispensation.  But  while  any 
such  thought  is  infinitely  disparaging  to  the  blessed  Spirit, 
and  to  the  word  of  his  power,  there  is  a  satisfaction  un- 
speakable in  anticipating  the  endless  ways  iu  which  the 
Spirit  may  get  himself  renown,  by  what  he  will  yet  do  in 
and  by  the  Church : — how  under  His  mighty  working  the 
instrumentalities  for  spreading  the  Gospel  may  be  seen  in- 
definitely multiplying :  all  the  missionary  principle  and 
energy  of  a  Church,  quickened  from  the  base  torpor  of 
ages  previous,  evolving  themselves  even  to  their  own  asto- 
nishment ;  majestic  steps  in  Providence  startling  men  from 
their  stupid  slumbers,  awing  their  spirits,  and  constraining 
their  attention  to  long  despised  truths : — these  and  other 
such  things,  in  connexion  with  direct  and  copious  effusions 
of  the  Spirit,  the  heart  delights  to  think  of  as  destined  to 
effect  that  universal  submission  to  the  sceptre  of  Christ 
which  is  to  characterise  the  latter  day.  It  feels  this  to  be 
vastly  more  satisfactory  and  attractive  as  a  prospect,  and 
far  more  in  accordance  with  the  whole  tenor  of  Scripture, 
than  any  rude  interposition  of  visible  manifestations — any 
interruption  of  the  magnificent  operation  of  God's  ordinary 
laws  of  working,  by  immed'ate  and  short-hand  methods  of 
obtaining  the  result. 


CHAPTER  II. 

NATURE   OF    THE     MILLENNIUM NOT   A    STATE    OF   TJNMIXED 

RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

It  may  appear  superfluous  to  devote  a  chapter  to  this  point. 
But  if  I  were  asked  on  what  head  of  our  subject  the  con- 
fusion and  inconsistency  of  the  pre-millennial  sclieme  are 
most  manifest  in  the  writings  of  its  advocates,  and  their 
confidence  in  it,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  unbounded, 
I  should  not  hesitate  to  reply,  on  this  head. 

Their  starting-point  is  usually  from  the  Parable  of  the 
Tares. — (Matt,  xiii.)  All  modern  pre-millennialists  hold 
these  parables  conclusive  in  favour  of  their  views.  You 
can  hardly  open  one  of  their  volumes  without  finding  some 
reference  to  it  in  this  light. 

'  Lei  both  tares  and  wheat  grow  together  until  the  harvest.'  "  This," 
says  Dr.  M'Neile,  "  is  characteristic  of  the  whole  period  of  the 
Lord's  absence.  Now,  I  ask,  is  this  phrase,  '  Let  both  grow 
together,'  equally  characteristic  of  the  millennium  and  of  this 
dispensation  1  If  it  be  answered,  Yes;  I  cannot  for  a  moment 
dispute  thai  such  a  millennium  will  precede  the  coming  of  the  Lord — 
we  have  it  already.  The  millennium  predicted  hy  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  not,  however,  so  motley  a  concern  as  this  Avould  make  it.  Its 
characteristics  are,  '  The  p(  ople  shall  be  all  righteous  ;*  they  shall 
all  know  the  Lord,  from  the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest  of 
them  ;  they  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy  mountain  ;  the 


♦  The  capitals  are  his  own. 
2s 


326  A.    MILLENNIUM    WITHOUT    SIN 

earth  shall  be  covered  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea ;  from  the  rising  of  the  sun,  even  unto  the  going  down 
of  the  same,  my  name  shall  be  great  among  the  Gentiles;  and  in 
EVERY  place  incense  shall  be  offered  unto  my  name,  and  a  pure  offer- 
ing ;  for  my  name  shall  be  great  among  the  heathen,  saith  the 
Lord  of  Hosts.'  These  and  similar  predictions  manifestly  de- 
scribe a  state  of  things  contrasted  with  the  present.  That  state 
is  the  millennium.  Tlie  tares  must  be  removed  previous  and  prepara- 
tory to  tlie  millenuium.  The  season  of  fhe  removal  of  the  tares 
is  the  harvest.  The  harvest  is  the  period  of  the  Lord's  coming 
with  the  holy  angels.  Consequently  the  Lord's  coming  must  be 
previous  and  preparatory  to  the  millennium.  It  may  here  be  re- 
marked how  every  sectarian  effort  to  get  what  is  called  a  pure 
Church,  is  a  petty  attempt  to  antedate  the  millennium,  by  the  re 
moval  of  the  tares ;  '  Let  both  grow  together  until  the  harvest.' 
Then,  indeed,  '  the  ungodly  shall  not  stand  in  the  judgment,  nor 
sinners  in  the  congregation  of  the  righteous.'  "* 

In  a  lecture  delivered  but  a  few  months  since,  and  al- 
ready referred  to,  the  same  author  thus  describes  the  mil- 
lennial state  : — 

"  There  shall  be  no  more  sin.  All  the  then  inhabitants  of  tlie 
earth  shall  be  holy.  All  shall  love  God,  and  serve  God,  so  that  his 
will  shall  then  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."  f 

*  Sermon  on  the  Second  Advent,  note  pp.  41,  42. 

This  is  a  literal  transcript  from  his  Lectures  on  the  Jews,  published 
eleven  years  before.  During  the  interval,  instead  of  suspecting  any  flaw, 
he  seems  to  have  only  grown  in  confidence  of  its  strength.  For  he  tells 
us,  a  couple  of  pages  after  this  note,  that,  after  discussing  with  an  evan- 
gelical clergyman  the  topics  in  question,  he  ceased  to  occupy  the  defen- 
sive position,  and  asked  him  his  view  of  those  passages  of  Scripture 
which  are  the  turning  points  of  the  whole  debate.  The  substance  of  his 
reply,  he  says,  was  this:  The  passage  is  important,  very  important  in- 
deed;  but  I  have  not  made  vp  my  mind  as  to  the  meaning  of  it.  He 
somewhere  else,  I  think,  says  that  he  had  never  been  able  to  get  an  an- 
swer to  this  argument  from  any  of  his  opponents  to  whom  he  propounded 
it.  *  I  do  not  know  how  he  may  like  the  reply  which  I  give  to  it ;  but  I 
«m  not  in  the  predicament  of  this  very  intelligent  clergyman,  having  at 
least  "-iiiade  up  my  mind  "  upon  it. 

t  The  Priest  upon  his  Throne,  {Lent  Led.  for  1&49,)  p.  96. 


PICTURED    BY    PRE-MILLENNIALISTS..  327 

"  On  this  parable  of  the  tares,"  says  an  esteemed  brother,  "  we 
would  submit  the  following  remarks:  1.  It  spans  the  whole 
economy  under  which  we  are  now  living.  It  commences  with 
his  personal  ministry  on  earth ;  it  closes  with  his  personal  com- 
ing to  judgment  at  the  end  of  the  world.  It  is  therefore  a  brief 
extract,  a  kind  of  miniature  view,  of  all  that  lies  between  these 
two  extreme  limits — between  the  first  and  the  second  coming  of 
our  Lord.  2.  Between  these  two  extreme  limits  we  find  no  trace 
nor  hint  of  any  millennium.  After  and  beyond  the  second  com- 
ing of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  his  gathering  out  of  his  kingdom  '  all 
things  that  offend,  and  casting  them  into  a  furnace  of  fire,'  we 
do  find  some  notice  of  that  blessed  state  (the  millennium) :  '  Then 
shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their 
Father.'  .  .  .  Now,  if  a  state  of  things  so  very  peculiar  and  blessed 
in  its  nature  as  the  millennium,  and  of  such  long  duration,  had 
been  to  occur  between  these  two  points,  would  it  have  been  en- 
tirely omitted  in  the  picture  1  Suppose  its  place,  in  point  of  fact, 
to  be  there,  would  not  its  omission  in  this  picture  of  the  whole  be 
somewhat  like  a  history  of  our  race  without  the  fall,  and  of  our  re- 
covery without  the  cross — the  very  capital  feature  omitted'?  3, 
The  best  of  the  dispensation  is  first,  not  last !  It  begins  well,  grows 
worse,  and  ends  worst  of  all.  ...  4.  The  dispensation  thus 
becoming  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil,  this  mixture  continues, 
not  for  a  while  merely,  but  down  to  the  very  end.  ...  It  was  to 
be  a  mixed  economy  down  to  its  very  close.  .  .  .  The  rectifying 
which  comes  at  last  is  not  by  mercy  but  by  judgment — not  by  the 
sowing  of  grace  but  the  sickle  of  vengeance — not  by  an  extension 
of  the  gospel,  tlie  labours  of  ministers,  or  any  gracious  instrumentality 
whatsoever  now  at  work,  but  by  the  angels  of  God,  who  are  to  ac- 
company the  Son  of  Man  at  his  second  advent.  ...  It  will  con- 
sist, not  in  re-sowing,  but  in  reaping  the  field.'^  .  .  5.  The  termi- 
nation of  this  economy,  therefore,  is  in  judgment,  not  mercy  .  .  . 
mercy,  however,  not  by  an  extension  and  enlargement  of  the 
eamoviy  of  grace,  but  in  a  new  economy  altogether ;  for  in  it  the  evil 


♦  How  thftse  statements  agree  with  the  gracious  and  converting  effect 
which  they  ascribe  to  the  judgments  that  are  to  accompany  the  second 
advent — as  wc  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and  under  the  head 
of  "the  Judgment"— I  leave  my  friend  to  Buy* 


328  A    MILLENNIUM    WITHOUT    SIN 

shall  be  purged  out  by  consummate  judgment  on  the  wicked. 
The  present  economy,  according  to  this  sketch  of  its  course,  docs 
not  terminate  by  an  enlarged  exercise  of  grace,  in  the  common 
meaning  of  the  word,  nor  by  the  use  and  success  of  any  agency 

NOW    IN    OPERATION — THE    GOSPEL — THE     MINISTRY — THE     SpIRIT,        It 

is  ended  by  an  agency  and  an  act  entirely  new  and  different — by 
the  immediate  intervention  of  the  Son  of  Man,  &c.  6.  We  may 
add,  that  the  kingdom,  in  its  perfect  state — the  reign  of  un- 
mixed GOOD,  thus  introduced  by  power  and  judgment — ^has  its 
seat  in  the  very  same  world  where  the  evil  existed,  and  whence 
it  is  now  cast  out.  ...  In  this  world  is  the  kingdom,  imperfect 
at  first,  and  mixed  with  evil,  afterwards  made  perfect  by  the  Son 
of  Man  and  his  angels,  and  entirely  unmixed.  And  it  is  in  this 
kingdom  ....  that  the  righteous,  when  the  moral  atmosphere  has 
been  cleared  by  the  last  act  of  judgment,  shine  out  as  the  sun  with- 
out a  cloud."  * 

"  I  may  argue,"  says  Mr.  Elliott,  *'  from  Christ's  parable  of  the 
tares  and  wheat,  as  furnishing  to  my  mind  a  decisive  negative 
to  the  theory  which  makes  a  millennium  of  universal  holiness 
and  blessedness  to  precede  Christ's  advent  and  the  saints'  resur- 
rection. The  tares  and  the  wheat  were  to  grow  together  inter- 
mixed until  the  harvest  (the  end  of  the  ai(av  ov  agef).  Then  at 
length  (not  before)  the  tares  shmdd  be  eradicated.  .  .  .  This  pre- 
dictive sketch  seems  to  allow  no  possible  place  or  room  for  the 
intervention  of  any  such  spiritual  millennium  as  Whitby's  and 
Vitringa's  [he  means  a  millennium  having  any  tares  remaining 
in  the  spiritual  field]  before  that  which  is  emphatically  called 
the  end  of  the  age.  And  the  parable  is  brought  to  bear  more  strik- 
ingly and  decisively  on  the  point  now  in  question,  by  the  statement 
added,  that  the  righteous  are  then  to  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  God's 
kingdom."  :|: 

Let  us  now  look  into  this  boasted  argument. 

1.  Nothing  can  be  clearer  than  that  the  separation  of  the 

*  Present  Dispensation— its  Course.   (No.  2  of  a  Series  on  P'j>phecy.) 
Kennedy,  Edinburgh. 
>  See  note,  p.  34. 
t  Hot.  Aj)oc.,  ut  supra,  p.  190. 


PICTURED,     BUT    NOT    BELIEVED    IN.  339 

fc  ,es  from  the  wheat  is  an  absolute  and  a  final  separation. 
Iv  Jeed  the  extracts  given  express  the  same  thing.  The  tract 
caVv3  the  present  a  "  mixed  economy  from  first  to  last."  a 
"  mixture  of  good  and  evil."  The  one  which  succeeds  it  is 
repr  isented  as  precisely  the  opposite  of  this.  It  is  '^  the 
king'^om  in  its  perfect  state  ;"  it  is  "  the  reign  of  unmix- 
ed Gi  OD^ENTiKELY  UNMIXED,"  whcrc  "  the  Hghteous  shine 
out  Without  a  cloud."  This  being  the  undoubted  sense  of 
the  p».fable,  and  expressed  emphatically  by  those  who 
adduce   it,  I  have  to  ask, 

2.  D  y  you  believe  your  own  representation  ?  You  do 
not.  It  will  not  do  to  say  that  the  glorified  portion  of  the 
Church  s'll  be  perfect ;  for  that  is  a  truism.  Your  whole 
argument  is,  that  there  cannot  be  any  millennial  state 
amongst  t^rtal  men  before  Christ's  second  coming,  because, 
according  lo  the  teaching  of  this  parable,  these  wax  worse 
and  worse  oawards  till  Christ's  coming,  after  which  the  evil 
will  be  pur^ni  out,  and  an  unmixed  millennium — of  men  in 
the  flesh,  of  ^xjurse — take  place.  This  is  your  argument,  if 
it  be  intelligibto  at  all.  Evidently,  then,  you  must  mean  that 
after  Christ's  coming  there  will  be  no  tares — no  "  imperfec- 
tion, mixture,  evil" — amongst  mortal  men^  and  in  the  Church 
below.  The  tract  speaks  of  the  "  purifying  of  the  moral  atmo- 
sphere," and  the  v3stablishing  of  "  a  new  economy,"  which, 
of  course,  refers  exclusively  to  the  mortal  state  of  mankind. 
Mr.  Elliott  says,  "  '^hen  the  tares  shall  be  eradicated."  And 
Dr.  M'Neile,  who  will  have  no  "  motley  concern"  of  a  mil- 
lennium, describes  it  in  such  Scripture  language  as  this : 
"  From  the  rising  of  the  sun,  unto  the  going  down  of 
the  same,  my  name  shall  be  great  among  the  Gentiles, 
and  in  every  place  incense  shall  be  offered." — '•  The  earth 
fjihall  be  covered  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  thfi 
waters  cover  the  sea,"  and  so  forth.  No  one  can  imagine 
this  to  be  quoted  as  a  description  of  the  state  of  glory.     It 


330    TARES  IN  THE  FIELD  DURING  THE  MILLENNIUM, 

is  the  millenrAdl  state  of  men  in  the  flesh,  as  contrasted 
with  the  present  state,  which  it  is  meant  to  describe. 

You  picture,  then,  a  state  of  things  upon  earth  in  which 
you  do  not  yourselves  believe.  Even  Dr.  M'Neile,  despite 
the  language  we  have  found  him  using,  had  no  faith,  when 
he  wrote  his  Lectures  on  the  Jews  at  least,  in  the  sinless- 
ness  or  perfection  of  the  millennial  state.  The  tract  above 
quoted,  when  it  expatiates  on  the  sinless  perfection  of  the 
millennial  state,  only  expresses  formally,  and  out  and  out, 
what  in  substance  occurs  in  almost  every  production  of 
modern  pre-millennialists.  But  such  absolute  and  unmixed 
good — such  perfect  removal  of  evil — hardly  one  of  them  is 
bold  enough  to  say  he  expects  to  be  the  condition  of  mortal 
men  during  the  millennium. 

The  imperfection  of  the  millennium  is  not,  indeed,  much 
dwelt  on  It  suits  better  their  views  of  a  Saviour  person- 
ally present,  and  a  new  heaven  and  new  earth  already 
realised,  to  talk  of  the  blessed  millennium,  without  going 
nicely  into  the  question  what  that  blessedness  is  to  be. 
It  is  far  more  congenial  to  the  feelings  of  good  men,  so  to 
mix  up  the  state  of  glory  with  the  mortal  state  as  to  lose 
themselves  in  the  general  halo  which  thus  is  made  to  sur- 
round the  subject  in  their  eyes.  "  Si7i  and  misery  till 
He  comes  (exclaims  Dr.  M'Neile) ;  righteousness  and 
happiness  at  His  coming !  Groanings  and  agony  till  He 
comes  ;  songs  of  triumph  at  His  coming  !  Faint  glimmer- 
ings of  hope  amidst  surrounding  and  prevailing  darkness, 
and  desolation,  and  despair,  till  He  comes;  everlasting 
light,  and  life,  and  joy,  and  love,  at  His  coming !  These 
are  the  cadences  which  continually  fall  upon  the  ear  from 
the  sacred  harp."*  Now,  it  is  a  pity  to  spoil  so  pleasing  a 
picture,  but  the  fault  lies  with  those  who  paint  it      The 

*  Serm.  on  the  Second  Advent.  Serm.  VI.,  Renovation  of  the  whole 
•arth  at  the  second  advent,  pp.  191,  192. 


NOT  GATHERED  OUT  TILL  END  OF  MILLENNIUM.    331 

colours  are  false  ;  it  is  a  dream  ;  no  such  millennium  ia 
believed  in.  It  is  an  earthly  state,  stript  of  its  earthliness. 
When  pre-millennialists.  however,  are  roused  to  draw  a  de- 
finite and  clear  line  between  the  glorified  and  the  mortal 
states  of  the  Church,  they  describe  the  millennium  just  as 
other  people  do,  and  in  so  doing  destroy  their  own  argu- 
ment. Take  the  following  from  the  Presbyterian  Review 
of  Mr.  Scott's  "  Outlines."  Mr.  Scott  had  gone  rather  too 
far  in  the  direction  of  a  perfect  millennium  ;  not  so  far,  in- 
deed, as  to  affirm  that  there  would  be  absolutely  no  sin 
during  the  millennium,  but  farther  than  most  pre-millen- 
nialists. And  this  provoked  a  good  refutation  of  his  pecu- 
liar opinions,  from  the  pen  of  a  brother  pre-millennialist. 
"  Sin,"  says  the  reviewer,  "  and  as  a  consequence,  death 
does  exist  during  the  millennium  ;  and  we  should  like  some 
distinct  scriptural  evidence  to  the  contrary.  The  system 
would  require  to  prove  that  there  is  to  be  absolutely  no  sin 
upon  the  earth  during  that  period.  Sin  and  death  entered 
the  world  together,  and  in  like  manner  will  they  depart  to- 
gether at  the  end  of  the  millennium."*  If  this  be  a  correct 
account  of  the  millennium,  it  only  proves  that  there  will  not 
be  so  many  tares  then  as  now  :  that  is  all.  Mr.  Bickersteth 
also  represents  the  millennial  state  as  one  of  simply  prevail- 
ing holiness —  a  prevalency  which,  while  it  does  not  exclude 
the  presence  of  the  ungodly  and  wicked  upon  earth,  will 
make  them  conceal  their  real  character,  and  "  feign  sub- 
mission." Are  such  characters  tares,  then,  or  are  they 
wheat  ?  If  they  be  tares,  the  millennium  canrwt  be  the  state 
described  by  the  separation  of  the  tares  from  the  wheat  :  The 
tares — by  your  own  admission — are  still  among  the  wheat^ 
and  will  not  be  separated  till  after  the  millennium. 

Thus,  this  argument  proves  most  satisfactorily  the  reverse 
of  what  it  is  brought  to  establish.     But  here  it  may  natu« 

*  Presbyterian  Review,  Jai .  .845,  p.  470. 


332    PARABLES    IILUSTRATING    CHRIST's    KINGDOM 

rally  be  asked,  how  such  a  strange  confusion  of  thought  is  to 
be  accounted  for.  How,  it  may  be  said,  can  so  many  sensible 
and  excellent  men  confound  the  state  of  mortality  with  that 
of  glory,  and  not  only  apply  to  the  one  what  even  them- 
selves admit  to  be  applicable  only  to  the  other,  but  on  this 
vicious  transference  build  one  of  their  strongest  arguments 
• — if  their  own  estimate  of  its  value  is  to  be  taken  ?  The 
question  is  an  interesting  one ;  and  the  answer  to  it  is,  that 
the  system  almost  inevitably  engenders  such  confusion. 
The  fundamental  principle  of  the  system — the  contempora- 
neousness and  co-existence  of  the  state  of  grace  and  the 
state  of  glory — of  mortality  and  immortality — of  an  upper 
and  a  lower — a  celestial  and  a  terrestrial  department  of  one 
and  the  same  kingdom — this  principle  destroys  the  real 
nature  of  both  the  things  which  it  places  in  juxtaposition. 
The  state  of  grace,  on  this  principle,  ceases  to  be  the  state 
of  grace  which  it  is  represented  to  be  in  God's  word  ;  and 
the  state  of  glory  is  in  like  manner  perverted.  It  is  not 
that  each  is  raised  and  loivered  to  the  measure  of  the  other. 
But  it  is  that  we  have,  instead  of  them,  something  more  or 
less  different  from  both. 

Before  leaving  this  parable  of  the  tares,  I  cannot  refrain 
from  noticing  the  light  thrown  upon  it  by  the  other  parables 
in  the  same  chapter. — (Matt,  xiii.)  Various  features  of  his 
kingdom  are  there  taught  by  the  Saviour  in  seven  parables. 
The  parable  of  the  Sower  (v.  3-23)  teaches  who  are  the 
genuine  subjects  of  the  kingdom  :  The  parables  of  the  Trea- 
sure and  of  the  Fearl  (v.  44-46)  teach  the  priceless  value 
of  the  blessings  of  the  kingdom  :  The  parables  of  the  Mus- 
tard seed  and  of  the  Leaven  (v.  3 1-33)  teach  its  progressive 
advancement  in  the  world  ;  while  the  parables  of  the  Tares 
and  of  the  JSfd  (v.  24-30,  36-43,  47-50)  teach  the  present 
mixture,  and  the  future  absolute  separation,  of  righteous  and 
wicked  in  the  kingdom.     Now,  as  the  growing  character 


WHY   THE    MILLENNIUM    NOT    IN    THEM.  333 

of  the  kingdom,  taught  by  the  "mustard  seed,"  and  the 
penetrating  and  assimilating  character,  taught  by  the 
"  leaven,"  go  on  till  "  the  whole  (earth)  is  leavened,"  and  all 
the  world  have  been  brought  to  lodge  in  the  branches  of 
the  mighty  tree  of  life — these  parables  must  of  course 
take  in  the  millennium,  if  there  is  to  be  one  at  all;  for 
there  is  no  millennium  to  come  after  the  evangelization 
of  the  whole  world.  "  Go,"  said  Christ  before  he  ascend- 
ed, "  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations  ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world"  (vvvTeXsiar. 
at  .iifof) — when  his  second  coming  takes  place.  Accordingly, 
the  same  expression  is  used  in  these  parables.  The  grow- 
ing process,  the  leavening  process,  and  the  presence  of 
tares  with  the  wheat — bad  fish  with  tlie  good — all  are  con- 
temporaneous, and  all  conterminous ;  they  begin,  and  they 
end  at  "  the  end  of  the  world,'*  or  when  Christ  comes 
again.  The  millennium,  therefore,  if  there  be  one,  precedes^ 
and  does  not,  cannot  follow  the  second  coming  of  Christ. 

Do  you  ask,  then,  why  the  millennium  is  not  mentioned 
in  the  parable  of  the  tares  ?  I  answer.  The  object  for 
which  it  was  spoken  not  only  did  not  demand  it,  but  posi- 
tively forbade  it.  It  was  to  set  forth  the  mixed  character 
of  the  visible  Church  till  Christ  come :  All  are  agreed  in 
tliis.  But  the  millennium  is  as  truli/,  though  not  in  the 
same  degree^  a  mixed  state  of  the  visible  Church  as  this  is. 
Pre-millennialists  themselves  are  compelled  to  admit  this. 
There  will  be  tares  during  the  millennium  in  the  field  of 
the  Church  ;  and  the  final  apostasy,  and  the  vast  confede- 
racy of  daring  enemies  of  Christ  and  his  Church — shows 
that  these  will  not  be  few.  In  contrasting,  therefore,  the 
mixed  with  the  unmixed  state  of  the  Church,  which  our 
Lord  does  in  this  parable  of  the  tares,  the  millennium  has 
DO  separate  place — no  standing  of  its  own  at  all.  With 
reference  to  the  unmixed  state — when  "  the  rig  kteaus  shint 


334  MILLENNIUM  BELONGS  TO  MIXED  STATE  OF  CHURCH. 

forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father''^ — the  niil- 
lennium  differs  in  nothing  worthy  of  mention  in  the  parable 
from  the  present  state  of  the  Church :  it  disappears  in  that 
mixed  state  of  grace  which  go<^s  down  to  the  end  of  the 
world,  and  ends  in  the  stafe  oi  glory  only  by  a  final  absolute 
separation  of  tares  from  wheat — righteous  from  wicked. 

Thus,  if  there  is  one  passage  which  more  effectually  than 
another  negatives  the  pre-millennial  scheme,  it  is  the  one 
which  of  all  others,  perhaps,  is  the  most  frequently  and 
confidently  adduced  in  proof  of  it. 


CHAPTER  III 

5ATURE    OF    THE     MILLENNIUM JUST     TV  I     FUi.L     DEVELOP* 

MENT  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GRACE  IN  I7.S  EARTHLY  STATE. 

There  are  two  famous  prophecies  of  Daniel,  which  are 
admitted  on  all  hands  to  furnish  a  key  to  much  of  the  Ian 
guage  of  Scripture  on  the  subject  of  Christ's  kingdom — 
being  the  blossom,  so  to  speak,  of  preceding,  and  the  bud 
of  succeeding  revelations  on  this  head.  These  two  pregnant 
visions  I  propose  here  to  examine,  in  so  far  as  they  bear 
upon  our  question. 

I.  In  Nebuchadnezzar's  vision  of  the  Image  (chap,  ii.) 
— representing  the  kingdoms  with  which  the  Church  of 
God  has  had  successively  to  do,  and  by  which  it  has  suf- 
fered so  much — the  Babylonian,  the  Medo-Persian,  the 
Grecian,  and  the  Roman — Daniel  says — 

*'  Thou  sawest  till  that  a  stone  was  cut  out  without  hands,  which 
smote  the  image  upon  his  feet  of  iron  and  clay,  and  brake 
them  to  pieces.  Then  was  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass, 
the  silver,  and  the  gold,  broken  to  pieces  together,  and 
became  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing-floors ;  and 
the  wind  carried  them  away,  that  no  place  was  found  for 
them :  and  the  stone  that  smote  the  image  became  a  great  mouu 
tain,  and  fitted  the  ichote  earth.^'  **  And,"  says  Daniel,  inter- 
preting this  part  of  the  vision,  "  in  the  days  of  these 
KINGS  (or  kingdoms)  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a 
KiNODOM,  WHICH  SHALL  NEVER  BE  DESTROYED:  and  the  king- 
dom shai:  not  be  left  to  other  people,  but  it  shall  brbai 


336  MEDE  ON  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream. 

IN    PIECES    AND    CONSUME   ALL     THESE    KINGDOMS,  AND    IT   SHAT I 

STAND  FOR  tvER." — (Verses  34,  35,  44.) 

On  these  verses,  the  following  remarks  of  Joseph  Mf:e, 
which  display  his  usual  penetration,  will  be  read  with  in- 
terest : — 

"This  prediction,"  says  he,  "points  put  two  states  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ.  The  first  to  be  while  those  times  of  the  kingdoms 
of  the  Gentiles  yet  lasted,  typified  by  a  stone  hewn  out  of  •» 
mountain  without  hands,  the  monarchical  statue  yet  standing 
upon  his  feet ;  the  second,  not  to  be  until  the  utter  destruction 
and  dissipation  of  the  image,  when  the  stone,  having  smote  it 
upon  the  feet,  should  '  grow  into  a  great  mountain  which  should 
fill  the  whole  earth.'  The  first  may  be  called,  for  distinction's 
sake,  Regnnm  Lapidis,  the  kingdom  of  the  stone,  which  is  the 
state  of  Christ's  kingdom  which  hitherto  hath  been ;  the  other, 
Regnum  Montis,  the  kingdom  of  the  mountain,  that  is,  of  the 
stone  grown  into  a  mountain,  &c.,  which  is  the  state  of  his 
kingdom  which  hereafter  shall  be.  The  interval  between  these 
two — from  the  time  the  stone  was  first  hewn  out,  that  is,  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  was  first  advanced,  until  the  time  it  becomes 
a  mountain,  that  is,  when  '  the  mystery  of  God  shall  be  finished' 
(Rev.  X.  7) — is  the  subject  of  the  Apocalyptical  visions.  Note 
here,  first.  That  the  stone  is  expounded  by  Daniel  to  be  that 
lasting  kingdom  which  the  God  of  heaven  should  set  up.  Se- 
condly, That  the  stone  was  hewn  out  of  the  mountain  before  it 
smote  the  image  upon  the  feet,  and,  consequently,  before  the  image 
was  aissipatM;  and,  therefore,  that  the  kingdom  typified  by  the 
stone,  while  it  remained  a  stone,  must  needs  be  within  the  times  of  these 
monarchies,  that  is,  before  the  last  of  them  (viz.  the  Roman)  should 
expire.  Wherefore  Daniel  interprets.  That  '  in  the  days  of  these 
kingdoms  (not  after  them.,  but  while  sonw  of  them  were  yet  in  being"), 
the  God  of  heaven  should  set  up  a  kingdom,'  "  &c.* 


*  Works,  pp  743,  744. 

The  Grotian  interpretation  of  Daniel's  fourth  kingdom  has  been  re« 
vived  by  some  learned  men  of  late,  as  *'  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt " 
denoting  "the  divided  Greciun  dominion  which  succeeded  the  reign  of 


THE    STONE    BECOMING    A    MOUNTAIN,  33*} 

Now  observe  what  comes  out  of  this. 

1.  The  kingdom  of  Christ,  instead  of  commencing  with 
the  millennium,  will,  it  seems,  have  run  one  entire  stage 
of  its  career  before  that  era  arrives.  There  are  not  two 
kingdoms — one,  "  the  means  "  the  other,  "  the  end  ;"  one 
"  the  preparation  for  it,"  the  other,  "  the  establishment  and 
manifestation  of  it ;"  one,  "  the  supreme  kingdom  of  God," 
administered  by  Christ  now  ''  in  another's  right,  and  with 
another's  power,"  the  other  "his  own  kingdom,  throne, 
and  sceptre,"  to  be  assumed  at  the  millennium.  There  is 
but  one  kingdom  of  Christ  in  "two  states,"  commencing 
during  the  existence  of  the  last  of  the  four  monarchies; 
that  is.  on  the  Redeemer's  exaltation  to  the  right  hand  of 
power,  stretching  across  the  era  of  the  latter  day,  and  losing 
itself  in  the  final  state.  However  different  its  aspects  as 
"  the  stone,"  .and  as  "  the  mountain,"  it  is  the  stone  that 
becomes  the  mountain. 

2.  The  difference  between  the  two  states  of  the  kingdom 
represented  in  the  vision — its  state  before  and  its  state  duT' 
ing  the  millennium — is  not,  it  seems,  a  difference  of  dispen- 
sation or  organic  form,  but  merely  of  prosperity  and  extent. 
"The  image  is  broken  in  pieces,  and  the  stone  becomes  a 
great  mountain,  and  fills  the  whole  earth."* 

Alexander  the  Great;"  and,  consistently  with  this  interpretation,  "the 
little  horn"  of  chnp.  vil.  is  made  to  denote,  not  the  ecclesiastical  head  of 
the  Roman  apostasy,  but  Aniiochus  Epiphanes.  (See,  among  others, 
Moses  Stuart's  Hints  on  the  Interpretation  of  Prophecy,  p.  86,  2d  Edit. 
Andover,  1642.)  But,  as  I  agree  with  my  opponents  here,  it  will  not  be 
necessary  to  argue  that  question. 

*  *'  So  say  we,"  replies  the  Duke  of  Manchester :  '*  But  a  change  from 
a  stone  to  a  mountain,  is  more  than  a  change  of  aspect.  Had  the  pro- 
phecy described  the  stone  as  growing  till  it  filled  the  earth,  if  it  had  still 
been  a  detached  stone,  that  would  hnve  answered  Mr.  Brown's  idea  of 
a  difference,  *  merely  of  prosperity  and  extent;'  but  it  becomes  a  moun- 
tain."—(Pp.  300,  301.)  I  never  thought  it  could  admit  of  a  doubt,  that 
the  figure  of  the  stone  becoming  a  mountain  and  filling  the  whole  earth, 

2f 


338 

Now  this  is  just  tbe  view  of  the  kingdom  which  the 
Saviour  gives  in  the  parables  of  the  mustard  seed  and  of  the 
leaven,  to  which  I  Jtdf  erted  in  the  preceding  chapter  : — 

"  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard  seed, 
which  a  man  took  and  sowed  in  his  field :  which  indeed  is 
the  least  of  all  seeds;  hut  when  it  is  grown,  it  is  the  great- 
est among  herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree,  so  that  the  birds  of 
the  air  come  and  lodge  in  the  branches  thereof.  Another 
parable  spake  he  to  them :  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like 
unto  leaven,  which  a  woman  took,  and  hid  in  three  mea- 
sures of  meal,  till  the  whole  was  leavened." — (Matt,  xiii 
31-33.) 

The  only  difference  between  these  representations  and 
that  of  Daniel  is,  that  in  tracing  the  fortunes  of  the 
kingdom  in  the  world,  the  one  takes  no  notice  of  what 
the  other  emphatically  marks — the  fall  of  the  anti-chris- 
tian  powers,  and  the  prodigious  consequences  of  that  event 
upon  the  subsequent  condition  of  the  kingdom.  Had 
we  no  other  representations  of  this  matter  from  those  of 
the  parables  just  quoted,  we  might  be  apt  to  conclude  that 
the  onward  progress  of  the  kingdom,  if  slow,  would  never- 
theless be,  from  first  to  last,  steady,  equable,  tranquil,  and 
silent.  Experience  would  indeed  correct  this  view  of  the 
Saviour's  words ;  teaching  us  that  progress  on  the  whole^ 
though  chequered  and  variable,  with  ultimate  universality^ 

denoted  the  change,  in  point  of  extent,  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  from  its 
earlier  to  its  later  stages  of  development.  It  is  enough  to  refer  generally 
to  the  commentators  in  support  of  this  view  of  the  figure.  It  matters 
nothing  whether  this  change  will  be  sudden  or  sloic,  after  the  stone  shall 
have  "  smitten  the  image."  All  that  I  wished  to  mark  is,  that  the  change 
indicated  by  the  figure  is  of  this  nature. 

His  Grace,  I  may  here  observe,  has  misunderstood  what  I  said  in  the 
preceding  paragraph,  about  the  kingdom,  at  the  end  of  the  millennium, 
"losing  itself  in  the  final  state."  I  mean,  of  course,  that  it  will  merge 
into  it — its  earthly  nature  disappearing  in  the  enduring  glory  in  which, 
"  after  the  end,"  it  shall  shine  for  ever  and  ever. 


THE    KINGDOM     WINS    THE    VICTORY.  339 

was  all  which  he  must  have  intended  to  convey,  as  it  is 
certainly  all  that  his  language  necessarily  expresses.  From 
Daniel,  however,  we  learn  something  more  definite :  namely, 
that  its  advances  from  the  beginning  up  to  the  millennial 
era,  though  real,  will  be  relatively  insignificant,  in  conse- 
quence of  certain  gigantic  obstructions,  whose  malignant 
influence  will  keep  it  enslaved  and  corrupted,  shrivelled 
and  secularized,  till  they  be  taken  out  of  the  way  ;  but 
that,  having  at  length  effected  their  complete  overthrow, 
it  shall  then  put  forth  all  its  vital  and  expansive  power, 
and  become  commensurate  with  the  world.  This  is  mani- 
festly the  whole  difference  between  the  "  two  states"  of 
the  kingdom — before  and  during  the  millennium — accord- 
ing to  Nebuchadnezzar's  vision  ;  its  meanness  now,  and  its 
magnitude  then ;  its  comparative  insignificance,  as  a  prin- 
ciple of  power  in  the  world,  up  to  the  millennium,  and  its 
glorious  universality  and  all-commanding  influence  in  the 
latter  day. 

3.  It  is  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  it  seems,  with  its  present 
resources  and  agencies^  that  is  to  "  break  in  pieces  and 
consume  all  these  kingdoms,"  whilst  itself  "  stands  for 
ever."  In  other  words,  Christ's  presently  existing  kingdom 
has  within  itself  the  whole  resources  by  which  it  is  destined 
to  crush  the  atiti-christianism  that  obstructs  its  universal 
triumphs,  and  to  win  its  way  to  the  throne  of  the  world. 
For  observe,  it  was  "  the  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain 
without  hands" — or,  as  Daniel  interprets  it,  "  the  king, 
dom,"  which,  in  the  days  of  these  anti  christian  "  kings"  or 
kingdoms,  -  the  God  of  heaven  was  to  set  up" — that  was 
seen  "  smiting  the  image  and  breaking  it  in  pieces  :" 
"  and  the  stone  that  smote  the  image" — or  "  the  kingdom 
which  shall  break  in  pieces  all  these"  anti-christian  "  king- 
doms"— this  stone  "  became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled 
the  whole  earth." 


340  THE     /^ICTORY ITS    NATURE. 

Here  let  the  reader  carefully  mark  what  kind  of    onflict 
this  is  between  Christ's  kingdom  and  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world.     It  is  in  their  anti-christian  character  alone  that  the 
Church  comes  into  collision  with  them.     As  kingdoms  simply 
— as  a  mere  succession  of  civil  monarchies — the  vision  has 
nothing  to  do  with  them,  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ  has  no 
quarrel  with  them  ;  for  civil  government,  as  such,  whatever 
be  the  form  of  it,  is  a  divine  ordinance.     The  mission  of  the 
Church  is  not  to  supplant,  but  to  impregnate  and  pervade 
it  with  a  religious  character,  and  to  render  it  subservient  to 
the  glory  of  God.     Christ's  kingdom   is  not  of  this  world. 
It  has  no  form  of  civil  polity  to  fight  for.     But  in  so  far  as 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  hostile  to  the  Church  of  the 
living  God,  it  is  and  must  be  opposed  to  them.     And  it  is 
in  this,  and  this  only  light — as  conspirators  against  the  in- 
terest and  the  people  of  God  in  this  world — that  the  anti- 
christian  kingdoms  are  seen,  and  that  they  are  doomed  in 
Nebuchadnezzar's  vision.     It  is  in  this  sphere  of  malignant 
influence  and  action,  and  this  only,  that  the   kingdom  of 
Christ  is  destined  to  take  their  place.     In  short,  the  battle 
is  between  Christ's  interest  and  that  of  the  god  of  this  world, 
in  so  far  as  the  one  is  embodied  in  the  Church  or  kingdom 
of  Christ,  and  the  other  in  the  kingdoms  mentioned  in  the 
vision.     And  if  so,  then  the  fall  of  them  must  be  viewed 
in  the  same  light.      As  the  stone  which  smites  the  image  is 
not  physical  or  political,  so  neither  is  the  blow  inflicted  by 
it.     Nor  does  it  light  upon  those  anti-christian  kingdoms, 
save  in  their  anti-christian  principles  and  character.      And, 
consequently,  their  fall  can   only  be  considered   as  the  fall 
of  them  in  that  hostile  character^  to  be  re-constructed  upon 
Christian  principles  and  for  Christian  objects. 

If  these  views  of  the  triumphs  of  Christ's  kingdom  over 
the  kingdoms  mentioned  in  this  vision  be  correct,  it  is  just 
the  triumph  of  Christianity — not  of  Christian  truth  merely, 


THE    VICTORY ITS    NATURE.  341 

and  still  less  of  a  mere  party,  but  of  embodied,  orranic,  acd 
vital  Christianity — over  an  organized  system  of  deadly 
opposition  to  it  by  the  kingdoms  of  this  world.  The  Church, 
says  this  vision,  is  destined  to  crush  that  gigantic,  anti- 
christian  confederacy,  and  thereafter  to  carry  all  before  it. 
It  is  just  a  conflict  of  interests — a  life  and  death  struggle 
between  Christ  and  Belial  on  thfi  theatre  of  this  world,  in 
which  Christ  is  to  carry  the  day,  and  his  "  kingdom  to  fill 
the  whole  earth."* 

Now  this  is  but  the  issue  in  which  our  parables  land  us. 
They  gave  us  the  thing  attained  ;  while  here  we  have  the 
arduousness  with  which  it  is  reached — that  is  all.  The 
kingdom  shall  grow,  says  the  parable  of  the  mustard  seed, 
till  it  overspread  the  earth  :  It  shall  work  into  human  so- 
ciety, says  the  parable  of  the  leaven,  till  it  penetrate  with 
its  blessed  principles  and  character  the  whole  mass.  It 
shall  fight^  and  win  its  uay^  says  Nebuchadnezzar's  vision, 
to  the  throne  of  the  world,  and  having  smitten  down  the 
most  formidable  of  all  the  bulwarks  which  Satan  ever  threw 
up  against  its  progress,  shall  thenceforward  sit  mistress  of 
this  world's  affairs,  pursuits,  and  enjoyments,  bringing  them 
all  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ ! 

What  then  have  we  found  in  this  vision  ?  We  have 
found  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  already  in  being,  hav- 
ing been  set  up  by  the  God   of  heaven  "  in  the  days^^  or 

*  "If  my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my  servants  fight, 
that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews  :  but  now  is  my  kingdom  not 
from  hence."  (John  xviii.  36.)  "  We  do  not  war  after  the  flesh  :  for  the 
weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty  through  God  to  the 
pulling  down  of  strong  holds."  (2  Cor.  x.  3,  4.)  "  Rejoice  greatly,  O 
daughter  of  Zion — behold  thy  king  cometh  unto  thee;  just,  and  having 
salvation ;  lowly,  and  riding  upon  an  as-s,  and  upon  a  colt  the  foal  of  an 
ass.  And  I  will  cut  off  Iht  chariot  from  Ephraim,  and  the  horse  from  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  battle  bow  sluill  be  cut  off;  and  he  shall  speak  peack 
TO  THE  HEATHEN  :  and  his  dominion  shall  be  from  sea  to  sea^  and  from  fta 
river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth."     (Zech.  ix.  9,  10.) 

3f3 


342  Daniel's  vision — 

during  the  currcnc}',  of  the  four  famous  kingdoms — not  at 
but  long  before,  the  millennium.  We  have  found  that  the 
difference  between  its  two  principal  "  states "  its  pre- 
millennial  and  its  millennial  state — is  a  difference  not  of 
administration,  of  constitution,  of  dispensation  or  form, 
but  of  prosperity  and  extent.  Its  oppressors  cease,  itg 
chains  fall  off.  its  vitality,  elasticity,  and  force  become 
signally  manifest,  its  character  is  developed,  its  limits  are 
extended,  and  it  becomes  at  length  all  in  all:  And,  to 
complete  the  representation,  we  have  found  that  all  this 
is  just  the  triumph  of  the  noio  existing  Church — the  stone 
cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands  merely  smiting  the 
image.  No  new  weapon  does  the  Church  get  to  fight  her 
enemies  withal.  No  change  of  dispensation  does  she  under- 
go. She  is  already  all  that  she  needs  to  be.  She  is  com- 
plete in  her  living  and  ever-present  Head,  having  ''  all 
power  in  heaven  and  in  earth"  at  her  command,  and  getting 
it  too  at  the  destined  period,  when,  "  the  time  to  favour  her 
is  come,  even  the  set  time." 

II.  We  have  in  Daniel  (ch.  vii.)  another  vision  of  the 
very  same  thing,  with  just  enough  of  circumstantial  variety 
to  throw  additional  light  upon  the  whole  subject.  Under 
the  symbol  of  four  rampant  Wild  Beasts,  are  set  forth  the 
oppressions  of  the  Church  of  God  by  the  four  great  mo- 
narchies described  in  the  former  vision — the  Babylonian, 
the  Persian,  the  Grecian,  and  the  Konian ;  the  last  per- 
petuated in  its  ecclesiastical  head  at  Home,  denoted  by  the 
little  horn  "  of  the  fourth  beast  rising  after"  the  empire 
has  been  broken  up  into  ten  distinct  and  independent 
kingdoms,  and  altogether  "  diverse  from  them."  (Verses 
8,  24.)  Under  this  ecclesiastical  form  of  the  Roman  king- 
dom, the  Church  is  represented  as  suffering  more  than 
from  all  the  other  kingdoms,  or  from  itself  under  its  Pagan 
form.     This  Roman  head  of  apostate  Christendom  "  speaks 


THE    TWO    VISIONS    COMPARED.  343 

great  words  against  the  Most  High,  and  wears  out  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  they  are  given  into  his  hand 
until  a  time  and  times  and  the  dividing  of  time"  (v.  25), 
the  famous  prophetic  period  of  twelve  hundred  and  sixty 
years,*  at  the  end  of  which  this  wild  beast  of  a  tyrant,  this 
anti-christian  oppressor  of  the  Church  of  God,  is  judged, 
condemned,  and  executed  :  whereupon  the  saints  are  de- 
livered, and  henceforth  have  every  thing  their  own  way 
throughout  the  whole  earth,  the  world  being  given  into  their 
hands. 

Such  in  substance  is  the  celebrated  vision,  to  whose 
identity  in  subject  and  scope,  and  yet  remarkable  diversity 
of  representation  from  it,  we  now  request  the  reader's  atten- 
tion. 

1.  To  Nebuchadnezzar,  being  a  king,  the  four  powers 
are  represented  as  kingdoms  :  To  Daniel,  whose  interests 
and  affections  as  a  man  of  God,  were  all  bound  up  with 
the  progress  and  prosperity  of  the  Church  of  God,  they  are 
represented  as  nothing  else  than  so  many  wild  beasts,  tear- 
ing and  treading  on  the  people  and  cause  of  God  upon 
earth.  To  the  monarch  of  Babylon  the  Church  is  repre- 
sented in  the  only  light  in  which  it  would  be  intelligible 
to  him,  or  at  least  formidable — as  a  kingdom  which  the 
God  of  heaven  was  to  set  up  in  the  days  of  the  four 
monarchies,  of  which  his  own  was  the  first ;  a  kingdom 
which,  after  existing  for  a  long  time  without  making  much 
impression  upon  the  world,  would  at  length  get  the  better 
of  the  other  kingdoms,  and  become  all  in  all.  To  the  pro- 
phet, mourning  over  the  desolations  of  Zion,  this  heavenly 

*  Called  in  the  last  chapter  of  this  book,  "a  time,  times,  and  an  half" 
(ch.  xii.  7);  and  in  the  Apocalypse,  "forty  and  two  months"  (ch.  xi. 
2,  and  xiii.  5) ;  "one  thousand,  two  hundred  and  threescore  days"  (ch. 
tL  3,  and  xii.  6);  and  "a  time,  times,  and  half  a  time,"  (ch.  xii.  14). 


344  THE    TWO     VISIONS    COMPARED. 

kingdom  appears,  in  the  first  instance,  simply  as  "  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High,"  worn  out,  and  given  into  the 
hand  of  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast — the  ecclesias- 
tical oppressor  by  whom  the  sovereignty  of  the  fourth  or 
Roman  kingdom,  in  its  divided  form,  is  so  terribly  wielded. 
And  just  as  in  the  Apocalypse.  "  the  woman" — the  true 
Church — is  fain  to  betake  herself  to  "  the  wilderness"  for 
safety,  while  only  certain  "  witnesses  clothed  in  sackcloth" 
hold  up  any  faithful  testimony  in  that  cloudy  and  dark 
day  of  rampant  anti-christian  domination  ;  so  here,  we  find 
only  "  the  saints  of  the  Most  High"  on  the  Lord's  side,  aa 
if  they  could  scarcely  be  called  a  "  kingdom" — ^just  a  noble 
band  of  faithful  witnesses,  worn  out  and  given  into  the 
hand  of  their  oppressor  for  an  appointed  period,  yet  still 
keeping  their  ground,  biding  their  time,  and  at  length 
gloriously  vindicated  and  all-victorious.  Different,  how- 
ever, as  these  representations  are,  the  difference  will  be 
seen  to  arise  solely  from  the  point  of  view.  The  thing  repre- 
sented is  in  both  visions  the  same — the  Church  of  Christ. 
The  first  vision  gives  the  date  of  its  erection  in  the  days  of 
the  Roman  Caesars.  The  second  gives  us  its  proper  cha- 
racier — a  kingdom  of  "  saints."  In  the  first  vision,  Christ's 
*'  kingdom,  instead  of  being  left  to  other  people,  breaks  in 
pieces  and  consumes  all  the  other  kingdoms,  and  stands 
for  ever."  In  the  second,  the  long  oppressed  "  saints  of 
the  Most  High  take  and  possess  the  kingdom  for  ever, 
even  for  ever  and  ever."  This  "  taking  and  possessing  the 
kingdom"  (vii.  18),  evidently  means  the  same  thing  with 
"  the  stone's  smiting  the  image,  and  itself  becoming  a  great 
mountain,  and  filling  the  whole  earth,"  in  the  first  vision. 
The  former,  being  the  more  definite,  explains  the  latter, 
which  is  the  more  general  statement ;  showing  it  to  mean 
just  the  triumph  of  Christ's  cause,  as  embodied  in  the 
living  Church,  over  the  anti-christianism  of  the  kingdoms 


JUDGMENT    OF    ANTICHRIST WH«T.  345 

of  men,  and  its  consequent  universal  and  blessed  sway  in 
the  world. 

Turning  to  that  part  of  the  Apocalypse  which  (as  Mede 
says  in  the  extract  we  have  given  from  him)  relates  to  the 
same  period  and  the  same  event — namely,  the  sounding  of 
the  seventh  trumpet — we  have  a  sublime  confirmation  of  the 
view  I  have  given  of  these  two  visions.  Nothing  can  be 
grander  than  the  song  in  which  the  issue  is  there  hymned 
by  celestial  voices  (Rev  xi.  15):  "And  the  seventh  angel 
sounded ;  and  there  were  great  voices  in  heaven,  saying, 

"  The  sovereignty  op  the  world  hath  become  our  Lord's 
AND  HIS  Christ's  ;  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever  and 
ever  !"* 

2.  A  very  important  feature  in  the  case,  wanting  in 
the  first  vision,  is  supplied  by  the  second.  In  the  former, 
it  is  simply  a  trial  of  might :  the  blow  struck  by  the  stone 
breaks  the  image  in  pieces.  In  the  latter,  it  is  first  and 
chiefly  a  trial  of  right :  the  beast  is  judged  and  condemned  ; 
his  dominion,  found  usurped  and  illegal,  is  taken  away^  and 
the  kingdom  and  dominion  are  given  to  the  people  "  of 
the  saints  of  the  Most  High,"  as  to  the  rightful  possessors 
Let  us  look  at  this  a  little.  A  judicial  assize  is  represented 
as  being  held  upon  the  anti-christian  oppressor  of  the  saints 
of  the  Most  High,  or  kingdom  of  Christ.  And  as  the 
judgment  to  be  held  upon  this  wicked  system  is  not  a 
human  but  a  divine  judgment — or  the  view  of  it  which 
God  takes — the  symbols  and  circumstances  of  it  are  all 
borrowed  from  the  characteristics  of  the  last  judgment.  "  I 
beheld  (says  the  prophet)  till  the  thrones  were  cast,"  or 
rather  "  placed  down" — for  the  Judge,  with  the  assessors, 
to  sit  on.f     This  throne  is  seen  occupied  by  the   Eternal, 

♦  See  first  note,  p.  237. 

+  See  the  LXX.,  the  Vulgate,  Theodotion,  &c.,  and  with  manifest 
propriety,  since  it  is  mmediiiiely  added,  '•  And  the  Ancient  of  days  did 


346  JUDGMENT    OF    ANTICHRIST 

arrayed   in  the  symbols  of  awful  purity  and  justice,  and 
flaming    with   vengeance    against  his  adversaries :     "  And 
the  Ancient  of  days  did  sit,  whose  garment  was  white  as 
snow,   and  the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool:    his 
throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his  wheels  as  burning 
fire ;  a  fiery  stream  issued  and  came  forth  from  before  him." 
Then   we  have    his    attendant  angelic  ministers :    "  Thou- 
sand  thousands  ministered  unto  him,  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand   stood  before  him."     Arrangements  are  now 
made  for  proceeding  with  the  trial:  "The  judgment  was 
set,  and  the  books  were  opened  ;" — the  book  of  the  fads 
and  the  book  of  the  'principles  of  the  case, — the  record,  on 
the  one  hand,  of  the  high  misdemeanours  of  this  anti-chris- 
tian  system  against  the  kingdom  and  cause  of  God,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  grounds  in  law  for  its  condemnation,  as 
these   are   set  forth  in  the  written  word.      And  now  the 
prophet  hears  the    sentence,  and  witnesses  its  execution: 
"  I  beheld  then  because  of  tlie  voice  of  the  great  words 
which   the   horn  spake:  I  beheld    till  the  beast  was  slain, 
and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given  to  the  burning  flame." 
(verse  9-11.)     In  the  Apocalypse,  this  is  expressed  by  the 
beast's  (this  same  usurping  wild  beast's)  being  cast,  with 
his  confederates  alive  into    a   lake    of   fire    burning   with 
brimstone  (chap.  xix.  20.)     As  the  imagery  of  the  trial  is 
that  of  the  last  judgment,  it  was  fit  that  his  end  should  be 
represented  as  a  consignment  of  him  to  hell-fire.     Bred  of 
hell,  the  engine  of  hell — to  hell  it  is  fit  it  should  be  seen  to 
go.      Si/ftems.  indeed — kingdoms — public    parties — cannot 
go  to  hell,  strictly  speaking.     Yet  as  the  trial  of  them  is 
real,  so  the  destruction  of  them  is  as  truly  judicial  as  ever 
the   perdition  of  ungodly  men  will  be  at  the  great  day. 
Only  let  it  be  carefully  borne  in  mind,  that  the  scene  has 
nothing  to  do  with   individuals,  as  such.     It  is  the  trial 
and  condemnation    of   a    system — a   cause — a  kingdom. — a 


WHEREIN    DIFFERENT    FROM    I  AST    JUDGMENT.     341 

gi'eat  public  party,  and  of  that  alone.  Nor  is  any  thing 
more  meant  by  these  august  formalities  of  a  judgment  upon 
the  little  horn,  than  merely  to  intimate  to  us  how  rigkteoui 
will  be  the  destruction  of  that  wicked  interest.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's vision  exhibits  the  fall  of  anti-christianism,  as  re- 
sulting from  a  blow  given  to  it  by  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
Daniel  sees  that  too,  in  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  taking 
the  kingdom  and  possessing  it.  But,  in  addition  to  this, 
he  gets  a  view  of  the  real  secret  of  this  triumph  of  the 
Church.  It  lies  not  so  much  in  the  might  which  she  can 
command — though  that  is  boundless — as  in  the  right  which 
is  on  her  side.  Her  rival  claimant  for  supremacy  is  a  base 
usurper,  and  godless  blasphemer,  and  tyrant  oppressor 
of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.  He  is  on  this  account 
doomed  as  the  enemy  of  Heaven,  to  be  cast  out  as  an  abo- 
minable branch.  When  his  day  of  visitation  comes,  those 
who  are  on  the  Lord's  side  will  find  him  an  easy  prey,  and 
may  say  one  to  another,  as  Caleb  said  to  the  Israelites  con- 
cerning the  people  of  the  land,  "  They  are  bread  for  us  : 
tlt^ir  defence  is  departed  from  Ihem,  and  the  Lord  is  with  us : 
fear  them  notV     (Numb.  xiv.  9.) 

It  is  surprising  that  a  scene  whose  purport  is  so  plain 
should  have  been  so  much  mystified  as  this  is  by  pre-mil- 
lennialists.  They  confound  it  with  the  last  judgment  ; 
making  this,  at  the  beginning  of  the  millennium,  to  be 
t\\e  first  act,  as  they  make  the  judgment  of  those  who  shall 
rise  at  the  end  of  the  millennium  to  be  the  last  act  of  a 
great  judgment-day  which  is  to  last  a  thousand  years. 
This  theory  we  owe,  I  believe,  to  Joseph  Mede,*  whose 
theological  capacity  appears  from  his  writings  to  have  been 
as  slender  as  his  skill  in  some  other  departments  was 
unrivalled.      I  have  already  at    some    length  investigated 

*  See  his  •'  Answer  to  Dr.  Meddus,  touching  the  I>ay  cf  Judgment 
Works,  Book  iv.  Epist.  xv.  p.  762. 


348  UNIVERSAL    DOMINION    GIVEN    TO    CHRIST. 

this  theory ;  but,  independently  of  all  that  we  said  upon 
that  subject,  nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  that  th« 
judgment  which  Daniel  saw  in  his  vision,  is  not  the 
judgment  oi  persons  at  all  (save  as  they  may  be  connected 
with  the  system,  and  involved  in  its  ruins),  but  purely  the 
judgment  of  the  system,  party,  or  interest  of  tlie  little  horn, 
and  is,  in  fact,  but  a  sublime  symbolical  way  of  expressing 
the  righteousness  of  antichrist's  destruction. 

These  remarks  will,  if  I  mistake  not,  throw  light  upon 
the  remainder  of  the  vision,  which  is  evidently  to  be  inter- 
preted upon  the  same  principles.  One  claimant  for  the 
throne  of  the  world  has  been  disposed  of  He  had  been 
in  possession  of  the  ground,  indeed,  long  before  his  Rival, 
in  some  sense ;  and  might  pretend  to  a  de  facto  right  to 
keep  the  ground.  But  right  de  jure  he  had  none,  and  that 
is  the  only  right  recognized  in  heaven.  He  is  accordingly, 
at  the  time  appointed,  swept  away ;  and  the  stage  being 
now  clear,  the  rival  Claimant — even  the  San  of  Man, 
borne  upon  the  clouds — is  seen  advancing  to  the  Eternal 
Arbiter,  still  sitting  in  his  awful  throne,  and  is  introduced 
to  him  by  the  angelic  officers  of  state :  "  I  saw  in  the  night 
visions,  and,  behold,  one  like  the  Son  of  man  came  with 
the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  came  to  the  Ancient  of  days, 
and  they  brought  him  near  before  him."  (Verse  13.)  For 
what  purpose  is  this  ?  That  he  may  be  seen  putting  in 
his  claim  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  world,  and  getting  that 
claim  recognized  by  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne. 
"  Ask  of  me,"  says  the  Ancien'^  of  days,  in  effect,  "  and 
I  WILL  GIVE  THEE  the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession." 
(Psal.  ii.  8.)  The  prophet  sees  this  done.  "  And,"  he 
adds,  "  there  was  given  him  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a 
kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations,  and  languages,  should 
Berve  him  :  his  dominion  is  an  eveilastirg  dominion,  whieb 


UNIVERSAL    DOMINION    GIVEN    TO    CHRIST.  349 

shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom  that  which  shall  not 
be  destroyed."     (Verse  14.) 

Who  does  not  see  that  this  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
second  personal  advent  of  Christ?  The  coming  of  the 
Son  of  Man  here  is  not,  be  it  observed,  a  coming  to  men 
at  all,  but  a  coming  to  God ;  nor  is  it  any  local  coming 
even  to  Him.  It  is  simply  the  advancement  and  the  re- 
cognition of  his  claim  to  rule  the  world,  clothed  in  state 
forms. — in  the  symbolic  drapery  of  an  august  installation 
or  inauguration.  From  what  locality  his  rule  is  to  issue^ 
the  vision  says  not  a  word,  nor  gives  a  hint.  It  is  just 
the  rule  itself- — "  that  all  people,  nations,  and  languages, 
should  serve  and  obey" — wrested  out  of  the  hand  of  a 
base  usurper,  and  committed  to  "  Him  whose  right  it  is 
to  reign."  It  is  just  that  in  symbolic  language  which 
Zechariah  expresses  in  naked  terms,  referring  to  the  same 
period  ;  "  And  the  Lord  shall  be  king  over  all  the  earth : 
in  that  day  shall  there  be  one  Lord,  and  his  name  one." 
(Chap.  xiv.  9.)  It  is  the  removal  of  all  the  Redeemer's 
'public  rivals^  in  consequence  of  which  "  the  Lord  alone 
is  exalted  in  that  day."  (Isaiah  ii.  11,  17.)  Enemies, 
we  shall  by  and  by  find,  will  still  exist ;  but  they  will 
not  be  exalted^  or  lift  up  the  head.  They  will  be  still, 
and  know  that  he  is  God.  They  will  yield  him  feigned 
submission  ;  but  universal  submission  he  shall  have.  The 
only  difference,  then,  between  his  rule  now  and  in  the 
latter  day,  is  in  the  presence  now,  and  the  extinction  then, 
of  a  public  party  in  opposition  to  him,  together  with  the 
native  consequences  of  these  very  different  states  of  things. 
Now.  it  is  said  to  him,  "  Rule  thou  in  the  midst  of  thine 
etiemies^  (Ps.  ex.  2.)  Then,  it  is  said  to  him,  "  0  Lord 
our  God,  other  lords  beside  thee  have  had  dominion  over  us ; 
but  by  thee  only  will  we  make  mention  of  thy  name.  They 
are  dead  ;  they  shall  not  live  ;  they  are  deceased  ;  they  shall 
2o 


350  KINGDOM    GIVEN    TO    THE    SAINTS. 

not  rise:  to  this  end  hast  thou  visited  and  destroyed  thera, 
and  made  all  their  memory  to  perish."  (Isa.  xxvi.  13,  14.) 
Would  you  know  in  what  sense  "  the  kingdom  is  given 
to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  ?"  You  have 
but  to  consider  in  what  sense  they  were  deprived  of  it 
before.  The  vision  has  to  do  with  them  solely  in  the  light 
of  their  principles, — their  "  saintship''  and  devotedness  to 
"  the  Most  High."  It  is  this  which  was  kept  down  before. 
Living  religion  was  not  in  favour,  and  did  not  rule  the 
kingdoms  of  men.  It  had  enough  to  do  to  keep  its  own 
ground,  and  often  scarcely  did  that  It  was  voted  out  and 
expelled  from  the  place  which  it  claimed  as  its  own,  the 
place  of  supremacy  in  all  the  affairs  of  men.  When  Chris- 
tians came  down  from  these  claims,  or  modified  them, — 
when  they  compromised  the  rights  of  Him  to  whom  they 
had  sworn  allegiance,  and  who  had  intrusted  his  interest 
and  honour  to  their  keeping,  they  were  tolerated  and  at 
times  caressed,  like  an  adulterous  wife,  by  the  kings  of  the 
earth,  or  the  ruling  powers,  and  the  whole  dominant  in- 
terest. Then  they  were  7wt  "  the  saints  of  the  Most  High." 
Their  saintship  and  fealty  to  Heaven  being  in  abeyance, 
they  were  not  themselves,  nor  as  themselves  were  enter- 
tained, by  '•  the  world  who  loves  (only)  its  own."  Whenever 
they  stood  forth  in  their  real  character,  they  were  kept  out 
and  kept  down.  Such,  at  least,  was  the  rule ;  and  any 
brief  intervals  of  a  better  state  of  things  were  the  rare 
exceptions,  with  which  the  vision  has  nothing  to  do.  Now, 
the  tables  are  turned.  Saintship  and  fealty  to  heaven's 
King  are  all  in  all,  while  irreligious  opposition  is  more 
thoroughly  put  down  than  before  it  was  ra'npant.  Now, 
'•  the  heavens  do  rule"  in  the  kingdoms  of  men ;  and 
saintly  and  leal-hearted  men.  Christians  indeed,  and  living 
for  Christ,  bring  all  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of  their 
Lord.     Living  Christianity  exercises  the  sovereignty  of  the 


SUBSTANCE    OF     I  HE    VISIONS.  331 

world.  Going  forth  in  its  life-giving,  all-penetrating,  all- 
transforming  virtue,  it  moulds  the  institutions  and  affairs 
of  men  to  its  own  blessed  character,  making  "  Grod's  will  to 
be  done  on  earth  even  as  it  is  done  in  heaven." 

Having  thus,  at  considerable  length,  examined  and  com- 
pared these  celebrated  visions  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  I 
would  appeal  to  the  impartial  judgment  of  the  reader, 
whether  they  do  not  confirm  and  illustrate  all  that  I  have 
said  of  the  time  and  the  nature  of  Christ's  kingdom — that 
it  was  set  up  on  his  ascension  to  the  right  hand  of  power, 
or,  as  Daniel  expresses  it,  "  in  the  days"  of  the  fourth  or 
Roman  kingdom  ;*  that  the  difference  between  the  •'  two 
states"  of  the  kingdom — before  the  millennium  and  during 
that  period — is  a  difference  merely  of  prosperity  and  extent 
— the  difference  between  the  presence  and  the  removal  of 
certain  gigantic  obstructions  to  its  progress  and  supremacy 
in  the  world,  and  the  removal  of  which,  at  the  appointed 
time,  will  be  attended  with  no  change  of  constitution,  form, 
or  dispensation^  but  will  merely  set  free  its  latent  energies, 
and  make  way  for  the  development  of  its  internal  resources 
to  the  benediction  of  a  miserable  world  ?  As  the  birth  of 
a  man,  all  puny  though  he  then  be,  is  the  manifestation 
of  his  life  '•  in  its  primary  sense,"  and  the  manhood  to 
which  he  ultimately  attains  is  but  the  same  life  developed 
and  matured  ;  so  the  millennial  state  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  will  be  but  the  full  expansion  and  bright  development) 
the  unrestrained  and  most  benign  rule  of  a  kingdom,  the 
Sovereign  of  which  is  already  on  his  throne — the  statutes 
of  which  are  already  proclaimed — the  foundations  of  which 

*  "He  that  shall  here  expound  'in  the  days,'  to  mean  'after  the  days,* 
shall  give  me  leave  not  to  believe  him,  unless  also  he  can  |)ersuade  me 
that  the  Stone  which  smote  the  image  was  hewed  out  of  the  moimtain 
after  the  image  was  dashed  in  pieces  and  vanished." — Mede,  p.  745. 

In  diebus  regum  illoruni — non  posteaquam  deleii  ei-un\  (Beng.  in  Apoc 
xi.  15  ) 


352  DESTRUCTION    OF    ANTICHRIST    GRADUAL. 

are  already  laid — and  the  conquests  of  which  are  proceeding 
apace.  The  little  leaven  may  leaven  the  whole  lump  of  hu- 
manity ;  the  grain  of  mustard  seed  may  grow  to  be  a  tree  suf- 
ficient to  overshadow  the  whole  earth  ;  but  the  mass  is  the 
same,  and  the  tree  is  the  same,  at  every  stage.  The  whole  is 
there  from  the  first.  Not  a  new  element  is  added.  Expansion 
and  development,  growtli  and  maturity,  are  all  the  difference. 
3.  I  had  nearly  omitted  to  notice  an  important  particular 
in  Daniel's  vision,  intimating  the  gradual  nature  of  the 
destruction  which  is  to  come  upon  the  Papal  antichrist. 
"  And  the  judgment  (says  the  prophet)  shall  sit,  and  they 
shall  take  away  his  dominion,  to  consume  and  to  deMroy  it 
UNTO  THE  END."  (Ch.  vil  26.)  Whcu  one  reads  of  the 
Stone  "  smiting  the  image,  and  breaking  it  to  pieces,"  and 
of  the  beast  '•'•  being  slain  and  his  body  destroyed  and  given 
to  the  burriing  flame  ;"  and  when  this  is  compared  with 
the  words  of  Paul,  that  "the  Lord  shall  consume"  this 
power  '•  by  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  destroy  him  with 
the  brightness  of  his  coming''^  (2  Thess.  ii.  8) — he  is  apt  to 
think  of  some  single  act  of  vengeance — some  one  act  of 
destructive  violence  that  will  cause  the  instantaneous  ex- 
tinction of  the  hated  power.  This  may  seem  to  be  con- 
firmed if  we  take  "  the  Stone^^  to  mean  not  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  but  Christ  himself  That,  however  will  not  stand. 
I  admit  that  able  divines  have  adopted  it ;  but  the  sacred 
text  is  a  better  interpreter  of  itself  than  all  commentators, 
and  it  informs  us  that  "  the  Stone"  denotes  the  kingdom 
of  Christ.  "  In  the  days  of  these  kings  (or  kingdoms) 
shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall 
never  be  destroyed,  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to 
other  people,  but  it  shall  (that  is  the  kingdom  shall) 
break  in  pieces  and  consume  (ripn*)  p^n)  all  these  kingdoms, 
and  itself  (x'^ri)  shall  stand  for  ever."     (Dan.  ii.  44.)* 

*  Prebendary  Lou  th  say  %  *'  The  Jews  unanimously  agree  that  by  tht 


THE    WARFARE    NOT    CARNAL.  353 


Now.  the  kingdom  of  Christ  not  being  "  of  this  world,* 
and  so  not  "  bearing  the  sword,"  does  not  "  break  in 
pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms"  in  any  such  pitched 
baltle  as  the  armies  of  men  contend  for  the  mastery  in, 
and  such  as  many  are  wont  to  represent  "  the  battle  of  that 
great  day  of  God  Almighty"  at  ''Armageddon."  I  believe 
in  no  such  way  of  deciding  the  question  between  Christ 
and  antichrist — between  "  the  kingdom  which  the  God  of 
heaven  has  set  up,"  and  "  all  these  kingdoms"  which  it  is 
to  "consume  and  destroy."  Believing  that  "the  weapons 
of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal,"  but  (just  for  that  reason) 
"  mighty  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds,"  I  believe 
the  warfare  itself  to  be  not  carnal.  There  may  be  much 
carnal  warfare  in  connexion  with  it: — I  do  not  deny 
that.  But  the  conflict,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  is  of 
another  kind.  And  the  apocalyptic  description  of  Christ 
coming  out  of  heaven  on  a  war-horse,  magnificently  capa- 
risoned— attended  by  armies  of  celestial  horsemen — to  fight 
the  battle  against  "  the  beast  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  and 
their  armies,  gathered  together  to  make  war  against  Him 
that  sat  on  the  horse  and  against  his  army,"  with  the  invo- 
cation addressed  to  "  all  the  fowls  that  fly  in  the  midst  of 

Stone  is  here  meant  the  Messiah."  But  by  tliis  he  does  not  mean  hia 
person  as  distinguished  from  his  kingdom ;  for  Lowth  adduces  this  testi- 
mony in  support  of  his  own  application  of  the  Stone  to  the  kingdom  o. 
Christ.  All  he  means  is,  that  the  Jews  agree  with  the  Christians  in  the 
iWiess-ianic  application  of  this  prediction. 

The  fathers  were  fond  of  illustrating  the  miraculous  generation  of 
Christ  by  the  Stone's  being  "cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands;" 
and  thus  the  application  of  the  words  to  Christ  seen)  to  have  gained  a 
footing.  (The  application  of  Ezek.  xliv.  2  to  the  same  circumstance  is 
scarcely  so  res^pectable.)  The  true  but  simple  sense  of  the  Stone's 
being  "cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,"  is  triven  in  the  verse 
above  quoted.  "  In  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set 
up  a  kingdom,"  as  contrasted  with  the  frail  and  perishable,  because 
earthly,  kingdoms  set  up  by  men — "a  kingdonr  which  shall  not  be  left 
to  other  people,"  &c. 

2o3 


354  THE    VICTORY 

heaven  to  come  ami  sup  upon  the  flesh  of  kings,  captainSj 
and  mighty  men,  of  horses  and  their  riders,  and  of  all  men, 
free  and  bond,  small  and  great"  (Rev.  xix.  11,  &c.) — this 
symbolical  description  of  the  conflict  that  is  to  issue  in  the 
final  destruction  of  antichrist  and  all  his  party,  does  not  lead 
me  the  more  to  expect  a  '•  carnal  warfare,"  but  just  the  reverse 
If  this  view  of  the  conflict  be  correct,  we  shall  be  the 
less  surprised  to  learn  that  the  final  issue  is  to  be  gradual 
rather  than  immediate — the  result  of  many  blows  rather 
than  of  one,  A  succession  of  weakening  defeats  and  wast- 
ing visitations,  the  failure  of  the  very  schemes  from  which 
the  enemies  of  Christ's  kingdom  expected  the  greatest  suc- 
cess, and  providential  manifestations  of  Heaven's  wrath 
against  them — such  "  untoward  events"  on  the  one  side  ;  and 
on  the  other,  a  succession  of  quickenings,  enlargements,  and 
triumphs — Christ's  cause  growing  in  strength,  and  his  friends 
"waxing  much  more  confident  by  the  very  bonds"  which 
oppress  them — such  a  species  of  antagonism  we  may  figure 
to  ourselves  as  consonant  to  the  nature  of  the  parties :  such 
a  march  of  the  children  of  light  into  the  territories  of  dark- 
ness would  be  worthy  of  Him  who  delights  to  "  spoil  the 
Egyptians."  It  may  be  a  protracted,  complicated,  and 
sometimes  imperceptible  process  of  "  consumption  and 
destruction"  that  is  going  on,*  but  one  delights  to  think 
how  the  sapping  and  mining  process  may  be  slowly  but 
surely  advancing,  and  "  the  daughter  of  Babjdon"  be 
"  near  to  destruction,"  at  the  very  time  when  "  she  saith  in 
her  heart,  I  sit  as  a  queen,  and  am  no  widow,  and  shall  see 

*  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  in  all  the  three  places  which  describe  the 
destruction  of  antichrist,  two  terms  are  employed  : — 

"It  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  (w)Dn,  make  an  end  of)  all  these 

kingdoms."     (Dan.  ii.  44.) 
"The  judgment  shall  sit,  and  they  shall  take  away  his  dominion,  to 

consume  and   to  destroy  (nTninb!)  nnTS'^nb)   it  unto  the  end 

(Dan.  vii.  26.) 


SLOW    BUT    SURE.  355 

no  sorrow."  (Rev.  xviii.  7.)  Infinite  comjlicatioi^s  there 
muy  be  in  the  plot ;  at  times  the  enemies  shall  make 
themselves  sure  of  victory,  and  prepare  for  the  celebration 
of  it.  But  "  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh  at 
them  ;  the  Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision."  It  is  his 
way  to  take  time  to  all  his  great  works.  "  One  day  is  with 
Him  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one 
day."  It  seems,  indeed,  to  be  a  law  of  the  moral  kingdom, 
that  all  the  great  powers — civil  and  ecclesiastical,  of  light 
and  of  darkness — that  have  borne  sway  among  men, 
shall  both  rise  and  fall  by  degrees.  So  was  it  with  the 
mighty  monarchies  that  have  overshadowed  the  world.  So 
has  it  been  with  the  kingdom  of  the  false  prophet  From 
the  first  risings  of  ambition  among  Christ's  ministers,  to  the 
time  when  all  Christendom  trembled  at  the  grim  tyrant  of 
the  seven  hills — how  slow  has  been  the  progress  !  For 
three  hundred  years — from  the  time  when  that  dark,  and 
withering,  and  accursed  power  seemed  to  get  its  death-blow 
at  the  glorious  Reformation,  until  now — how  often  has  the 
tide,  to  human  appearance  at  least,  rolled  back,  and  how 
plausibly  has  it  been  asserted  that  not  an  inch  of  solid 
ground  has  since  that  day  been  gained  !  Astounding,  in- 
deed, are  the  events  of  our  day.  Scarce  a  year  has  elapsed 
since  the  right  arm  of  the  Papacy  was  paralysed  by  a  revo- 
lution, from  the  efi'ects  of  which  it  struggles  to  recover  it- 
self, though  as  yet  with  but  partial  success — I  allude,  of 
course,  to  Austria.  The  temporal  power  of  the  Pope,  after 
being  swept  away  by  his  own  subjects,  and  suffering  a  glori- 
ous eclipse,  has   been    re-established  in  a  way  which  has 

"Whom  the  Lord  shall  consume  {aveXsT)  with  the  Spirit  of  his  mouth, 

and    destroy  {Karapyriaei)  with  the  brightness  of  his    coming." 

(2  Thess.  ii.  8.) 

The  gradual  nature  of  the  destruction  of  antichrist— the  successive 

steps  by  which  its  extermination  is  to  be  effected — seems  clearly  to  be 

thus  denoted. 


356  THE    EVENTUAL    TRIUMPH. 

already  opened  many  eyes,  and  may  prove  but  a  step 
towards  the  downfall  of  his  whole  authority.  But  we  pro- 
phesy not.  There  has  been  too  much  of  this.  The  whole 
horizon  of  Christendom  may  yet  be  overcast,  and  the  safety 
of  the  truth  and  cause  of  God  be  brought  into  such  peril, 
that  "  men's  hearts  may  fail  them  for  fear,  and  for  looking 
after  those  things  that  are  coming  on  the  earth."  But 
"  when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass,"  we  are  taught 
to  look  up  and  lift  up  our  heads,  for  our  "  redemption 
draweth  nigh."  The  ship  of  the  Church  shall  outride  the 
storm  ;  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prsvail :  the  cause  of 
God,  careering  over  the  billows,  shall  reach  the  fair  havens  ; 
and  "  the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the 
kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the 
people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  H  igh,  whose  kingdom  is  an 
everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and 
obey  him."     (Dan.  vii.  27.)* 

*  Mr.  H.  Bonar's  elaborate  reply  to  the  view  given  in  this  chapter  of 
Daniel's  vision,  seems  to  me  a  great  deal  more  startling  in  its  charges 
than  solid  and  convincing  in  argument.  I  endeavoured  to  show  how 
very  different  a  judgment  this  upon  Daniel's  "fourth  beast'"  or  "little 
horn"  of  the  pap;!l  antichrist  M'ill  be,  from  the  last  judgment  described 
at  the  close  of  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Revelation.  I  placed  the  differ- 
ence between  these  two  judgments  not  so  much  in  the  time  of  them  (the 
one  before,  the  other  after  the  millennium),  as  in  the  character  of  them ; 
the  one  being  the  trial,  condemnation,  and  destruction  of  the  antichris- 
\\din  system,  interest,  cause,  or  kingdom — the  other,  a  judicial  investiga- 
tion of  the  slate  and  character  of  individual  pessons,  for  eternity.  This 
difference  is  manifest  from  the  very  description  of  the  parties  judged, 
and  of  the  issue.  The  Judge  is  of  course  the  same  in  both ;  the  awful 
pomp  of  the  judgment  is  very  much  me  same  also,  for  it  is  a  high  judi- 
cial decision  in  both  cases:  but  how  totally  different  the  parties  and  the 
issue!  Sjys  Daniel,  "The  judgment  was  set,  and  the  books  were  open- 
ed. I  beheld  then,  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great  words  wiiich  the  horn 
spake:  I  beheld  till  ihe  beast  was  slain,  and  his  body  given  to  the  burn- 
ing flame.  As  concerning  the  rest  of  the  beasts,  they  had  their  dominion 
iaken  away,  yet  their  lives  were  prolonged  for  a  season  and  a  lime." 
Chap.  vii.  10-12.)    This  slaying  of  the  beast,  and  destruction  of  hii 


MR.    H.    30NAR.  357 

body,  and  con»mittal  of  it  to  the  flnme?,  is  afterwards  described  in  the 
same  vision  simply  by  the  taking  away  of  his  dominion.  "The  saints 
shall  be  given  into  his  (the  little  horn's)  hand  until  a  time  and  tin-^es  and 
the  dividing  of  time.  But  the  judgment  shall  sit,  and  (as  the  result) 
ihey  shall  take  away  his  dominion,  to  consume  and  to  destroy  it  unto  the 
end.  And  (in  place  of  it)  the  kingdom  and  dominion  ....  shall  be  given 
to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High."  (Vv.  25-27.)  How 
clearly  does  this  show  that  the  whole  is  a  question  of  dominion !  Anti- 
christ's dominion— here  styled  "the  beast,"  "the  little  horn  "—being 
usurped  and  rebellious,  tyrannous  and  unholy,  though  tolerated  for  long 
ages,  is  at  length  to  be  judicially  "taken  away,  consumed,  and  destroy- 
ed unto  the  end  ;"  while  the  saints— alone  acknowledging  the  rights  and 
prerogatives  of  "  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ " — shall  "  take  and  possess 
the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the 
whole  heaven,"  ruling  for  God  over  the  wide  vvoild.  A  blessed  consum- 
mation this,  but  how  totally  different  from  "  the  judgment  of  the  great 
day  1"  "And  I  saw  the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God  .  .  . 
and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things  that  were  written  in  the 
books,  according  to  their  works.  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  that 
were  in  it,  and  death  and  hades  delivered  up  the  dead  that  were  in  them  ; 
and  Ikey  itere  judged  every  man  according  to  their  works.'^  Durham 
mentions  another  all-important  point  of  difference  between  the  two  judg- 
ments. "The  book  of  life,"  he  says,  "is  not  mentioned  in  Dan. 
VII.,  to  which  there  is  an  allusion  in  all  this  (descrif)tion  of  the  last  judg- 
ment), because  it  is  but  a  temporal  judgment  that  is  principally  in- 
tended in  that  place.^'* 

Such  then,  is  the  view  of  Daniel's  vision  for  which  I  am  classed  with 
the  Pantheistic  Emerson  (p.  159),  with  the  Sweden borgian  Bush  (p. 
229,  &c.,  &c.),  with  the  Rationalist  Henke  (p.  260),  and  I  know  not  what 
all  errorists.  Leaving  it  to  the  reader  to  judge  how  far  such  a  mode  of 
writing  is  for  edification,  I  merely  notice  the  singulav  ground  on  which 
such  charges  are  rested,  namely,  that  by  representing  the  judgment  in 
Daniel  as  a  judgment  on  the  antichrlstian  system,  cause,  interest,  king- 
dom— as  contra-distinguished  from  a  trial  of  individual  persons  "accord- 
ing to  their  works  "—I  make  it  a  judgment  uf  on  a  mere  abstraction.  The 
shallowness  of  this  is  too  palpable  to  require  an  answer.  The  destruc- 
tion of  the  Papacy  has  hitherto  been  understood  to  mean  something  real, 
apart  from  what  may  happen  to  its  individual  adherents.  As  the  great 
proportion  of  these  will  have  gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth  ere  that  event 
occur,  they  at  least  cannot  share  in   the  destruction  of  the  Papacy, 

*  By  "  principally  "  Durham  means  that  though  it  is  but  a  temporal  judgment 
that  is  predicted  in  Dan.  vii.,  it  is,  like  all  temporal  judgments,  an  earnest  and 
forerunner  of  the  last  judt'ment,  and  so  couciied  in  the  language  of  it  as  all  ttia 
great  temporal  judgments  described  in  Scripture  undeniably  are. 


358  MR.    H.    BONAR. 

but  will  be  rotting  in  their  graves  when  its  fall  takes  place.  And  tven  as 
to  those  who  adhere  to  it  at  the  time  of  its  overthrow,  surely  it  is  the  fill 
of  that  system  of  soul-destroying  error,  daring  blasphemy,  blind  supersti- 
tion, hypocritical  priestcraft,  and  grinding  tyranny — the  termination  of 
such  impositions  upon  men  in  the  name  of  religion,  "holy,  catholic,  and 
apostolic" — this  surely  is  the  destruction  predicted,  the  consummation 
hymned  in  the  prophetic  Scriptures,  the  deliverance  which  an  oppressed 
Church  longs  to  witness,  and  not  the  individual  calamities  which  no  one 
denies  will  overtake  those  who  are  actively  mixed  up  with  the  accursed 
thing,  which  may  prove  very  terrible,  and  of  which  Europe  has  already, 
in  all  probability,  begun  to  be  the  theatre. 

Further,  I  have  said  that  "One  like  the  Son  of  Man  coming  with  the 
clouds  of  heaven,  coming  to  the  Ancient  of  days,  and  brought  near  before 
him,^^  does  not  mean  Christ's  second  coming  from  heaven  to  earth,  but 
his  symbolical  approach  to  the  Father,  to  be  invested  with  "dominion 
and  glory  and  a  kingdom  over  all  people,  nations,  and  languages,"  as  is 
in  the  very  next  verse  expressed — (Vv.  13,  14.)  If  it  means  any  local  ap- 
proach at  all,  it  is  his  ascent  rather  than  his  descent — his  solemn  entry 
into  heaven  to  receive  the  reward  of  his  work.  But  in  my  view,  neither 
his  ascension  to  the  right  hand  of  God,  nor  his  return  in  person  to  the 
earth,  is  here  intended,  but,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  a  scenic  representation  of 
his  investiture  with  the  rights  of  universal  dominion.  As  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse we  find  him  symbolically  "  clothed  with  a  cloud,  a  rainbow  on  hia 
head,  his  face  as  the  sun,  and  his  feet  as  pillars  of  fire,"  and  thus  arrayed, 
"  setting  his  right  foot  upon  the  sea,  and  his  left  foot  on  the  earth,"  to 
claim  and  possess  what  his  Father  had  promised  him,  even  the  "heathen 
for  his  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  posses- 
sion," (Rev.  x.  1,  2;  Ps.  ii.  8) — so  here  we  have  "the  Ancient  of  days" 
installing  him  in  this  dominion  over  all  people,  nations,  and  languages. 
Well,  in  thus  refusing  to  recognize  here  Christ's  second  coming  from 
heaven  to  earth,  Mr.  Bonar  writes  as  if  I  were  imposing  some  unheard 
of  and  violent  sense  upon  the  vision.  But  is  it  so 7  "The  prophet  (says 
Maclaurin)  does  not  represent  the  Son  of  man  as  commg  in  the  clouds 
of  heaven  Jro??i  heaven  to  earthy  as  at  the  general  judgment,  but  as  com- 
ing with  the  clouds  of  heaven  from  his  former  residence  [the  earth] 
towards  the  throne  of  God,  which,  according  to  the  Scripture  style,  is 
heaven.  And  this  is  confirmed  by  the  words  immediately  following,  that 
'they  brought  him  near  before  him, ''viz.,  before  the  Ancient  of  days."* 
"  this  (says  Scott  in  his  Commentary)  must  point  out  Christ  to  us  ...  . 
ascending  to  heaven,  the  throne  of  God,  to  receive  the  kingdom  covenanted 
to  him:'— {Ps.  ii.  7-9.) 

*  See  Scott's  Commentary,  ad  loc. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

NO    MILLENNIAL    REVIVAL    OF    JEWISH    PECULIARITIES. 

That  the  unbelieving  Jews  should  look  for  a  rebuilt  temple^ 
a  re-established   priesthood^  the  restoration  of  their   bloody 
sacrifices^  and  an  Israelitish    supremacy — at  once   religious 
and  civil — over   all   the  nations  of   the    earthy   when    tlieir 
Messiah  comes,   is  not  to   be   wondered    at.     With    these 
views  of  Old  Testament    prophecy,  their  fathers    rejected 
Jesus  and  put  him  to  death,  as  he  neither  realised  their 
expectations,  nor  professed  to  do  so ;  but  on  the  contrary 
directed  his  whole  teaching  to  the  uprooting  of  the  preva- 
lent conceptions  of   Messiah's    character,    work,  and  king- 
dom,  and  to    the  establishing  of  views    directly  opposite. 
Unless  they  had    been    prepared  to  abandon    their    whole 
scheme  of  Old  Testament  interpretation,   they  could  not 
consistently  have  acknowledged  Jesus  to  be   the  Messiah. 
But  that  any  Christians  should  be  found  agreeing  with  the 
unbelieving   Jews   in    their   views  of  Old   Testament  pro- 
phecy— that  there   should  be  a  school  of  Christian  inter- 
preters,  who,  while  recognizing  Jesus  as  the  promised  Mes- 
siah, and  attached  in  all  other  respects  to  evangelical  truth, 
should   nevertheless  contend  vehemently  for  Jewish  literal- 
ism, and,  as  a  necessary   consequence,  for  Jewish  altars, 
sacrifices,  and  supremacy — is  passing  strange.     It  is    true 
that  this  Judaistic  element  was  not  wholly  expelled   from 
the   minds  of  the  apostles  before   the  day  of  Pentecost ;  it 


360  MR.    FRY. 

is  true  that  even  after  this  it  had  its  advocates  in  some  of 
the  infant  churches — as  the  Galatiau  and  Colossian  ;  and 
it  is  true  that,  even  when  extruded  thence  by  the  zeal  with 
which  Paul  attacked  it,  and  the  light  which  he  poured  upon 
the  Old  Testament  by  his  rich  expositions,  it  still  lingered, 
and  struggled  for  a  footing,  and  succeeded  in  intrenching 
itself  in  a  number  of  shallow  minds,  whose  poverty  of  con- 
ception in  things  divine  is  supposed  by  distinguished  histo- 
rians to  have  given  them  the  name  of  Ebionites  (from 
•ji^as  poor.)  But  characterised  as  this  Ebionitic  school 
was  by  low  views  of  the  Person  and  Work  of  Christ,  as  well 
as  of  every  thing  else  in  religion,  its  existence  was  brief  and 
outside  the  orthodox  Church  ;  nor  has  it  ever  been  able  to 
raise  its  head,  save  in  a  few  isolated  cases,  till  the  present 
day.  The  most  remarkable  fact  of  all  is,  that  those  who 
held  the  pre-millennial  theory  in  the  second  and  third  cen- 
turies, seem  not  to  have  believed  in  any  literal  territorial 
restoration  of  the  Jews  at  all. — much  less  in  their  millen- 
nial supremacy  over  all  nations,  and  the  re-establishment 
of  their  religious  peculiarities. 

How  strangely,  in  the  light  of  these  facts,  do  the  follow- 
ing extracts  from  the  pre-millennialists  of  our  day  strike 
the  ear : — 

"  Zion  and  Jerusalem,"  says  Blr.  Fnj  (Rector  of  Desford), 
"  are  to  be  the  great  source  of  spiritual  blessedness  to  the  whole 
world.  This  '  city  of  Jehovah'  is  represented  as  tke  grand  centre 
and  emporium  of  civil  and  religious  power.  whitJier  all  nations  resort 
for  their  laws  and  government.  '  He  shall  reign  in  Jerusalem  unto 
the  ends  of  the  earth.'  ....  But  what  most  surprises  us  is,  that 
a  ritual  of  worship,  so  like  the  Mosaic  ceremonial,  should  again 
be  restored  by  divine  appointment,  rather  than  institutions 
more  analogous  to  those  of  the  gospel  Church ;  and  especially, 
that  the  sacrifices  of  animal  victims  should  be  again  enjoined ! 
For    we    read    of    all    the    various    offerings    of    the    Lovitical 


MR.    FREEMANTLE.  361 

econom/,  not  only  '  peace-oflfering '  and  '  meat-offering,'  but 
*  burnt-offerings,'  *  trespass-offerings,'  and  '  sin-offerings.'  Wo 
can  only  reply,  such  is  the  divine  pleasure.  It  is  not  for  us  to 
judge  what  would  be  best  for  Israel  and  for  the  world  at  large 
in  this  future  age."  "However  averse  to  our  preconceived 
notions  may  be  the  restitution  of  ceremonial  sacrifices,  that  res- 
titution exactly  corresponds  with  the  prediction  in  the  close  of 
the  fifty-first  Psalm,  where  a  reference  is  clear  to  Israel  of  the 
last  times :  '  Do  good  in  thy  good  pleasure  unto  Zion :  build  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem.  Then  wilt  thou  desire  the  right  sacrifices, 
an  offering  and  a  holocaust;  tlmii  sludl  tJieij  offer  steers  upon  thiiu 
altars:''* 

"  In  Ezek.  xliii.  26,"  says  Mr.  FrecviantU,  "  it  is  commanded 
that  the  priests  shall  purge  the  altar  seven  days.  .  .  .  And  up(»a 
the  eighth  day  and  vso  forward,  the  priest  shall  make  the  bun  it- 
offerings  upon  the  altar,  and  the  peace-offerings,  and  God  will 
accept  them.  Thus  the  legal  ceremonies  will  be  celebrated  upon 
the  day  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  .  .  .  Then  the  song  of 
thanksgiving  i)i  Ps.  Ixvi.  shall  resound  through  the  temple  aisle. 
.  .  .  '  We  will  go  into  thy  house  with  hurnt-offerings ;  I  will 
offer  unto  thee  burnt-sacrijlces  of  fallings,  with  the  incense  of  rams; 
I  will  offer  bnUocks  with  goats'  And  this  forms  the  fourth  and 
last  feature  [of  "Israel's  glory  after  the  advent"]  viz.  the  re- 
newal of  sacrificial  worship.  .  .  .  But  it  may  be  asked,  Is  it  com- 
manded ?  Assuredly.  Turn  to  a  prophecy  relating  to  times  sub- 
sequent to  the  restoration  of  the  twelve  tribes,  and  you  have  the 
answer  (Jer.  xxxiii.  17,  18),  'Thus  saith  the  Lord,  David  shall 
never  want  a  man  to  sit  upon  the  throne  of  the  house  of  Isi-ael ; 
neither  shall  the  priests  the  Levites  want  a  man  before  me  to 
offer  hurnt-offerings,  and  to  ki7idle  meat-offerings,  and  to  do  sacrifice 
continually.'  And  in  Ezek.  xlv.  xlvi.,  the  most  minute  directions  as 
to  the  manner  in  which  the  sacrifices  are  to  be  offered,  and  which 
in  some  respects  will  hid  found  to  differ  from  the  details  under  the  law 
of  Mosesy  ■\ 


*  The  Second  Advent,  &c.,  by  the  Rev.  John  Pry,  1822,  vol.  i.  pp. 
l-^,  583,  585,  586. 

t  Leat  Lect.  for  1843,  ut  mpra,  pp.  276,  278,  279. 


2k 


MR.    PYM. 

"At  that  [millennial]  time,"  says  Mr.  Brock,  "the  [civil  oi 
political]  ascendency  of  Israel  Avill  be  paravwmit  over  the  Gentiles. 
Clear  to  this  eflfect  are  the  predictions  of  the  prophets.  '  The 
kingdom  shall  come  to  the  daughter  of  Jerusalem.  .  .  .  Thou 
shalt  beat  in  pieces  many  people.  .  .  .  The  nation  and  kingdom 
that  Avill  not  serve  thee  shall  perish.  ...  Ye  shall  eat  the 
riches  of  the  Gentiles,'  &c.  The  same  ascendency  shall  also  be 
exercised  by  Israel  over  the  Gentiles  in  splrikial  things.  Jerusalem 
will  be  the  metropolitan  city  of  the  converted  nations.  '  The  moun- 
tain of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tains; and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it,'  &c."  * 

"  Jerusalem,"  says  Mr.  Pym,  "  shall  be  the  metropolis  op 
THE  WORLD,  f?-om  u'/iich  tkc  law  shall  go  forth,  and  be  the  centre  op 
\^•0RSHIP  FOR  THE  WHOLE  EARTH.  .  .  .  That  this  shall  then  dis- 
ti.iguish  Jerusalem  above  every  other  city,  is  apparent  from  the 
words  of  the  prophet  (Isa.  ii.  2,  3),  '  The  mountain  of  the 
Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains,' 
&C.  '  From  one  new  moon  to  another,  and  from  one  sabbath 
to  another,  shall  all  flesh  come  to  worship  before  me '  (Isa.  Ixvi. 
23).  '  Every  one  that  is  left  of  all  the  nations  .  .  .  shall  go  up 
from  year  to  year  to  worship,  .  .  .  and  to  keep  the  feast  of 
tabernacles.'  His  people  shall  be  exalted  above  all  others.  '  And 
strangers  shall  stand  and  feed  your  flocks,  and  the  sons  of  the 
alien  shall  be  your  ploughmen  and  your  vine-dressers.  But  yu 
shall  be  named  the  priests  of  the  Lord,  ....  ye  shall  eat  the 
riches  of  the  Gentiles,'  &c.  When  I  read  such  passages  as 
these,  do  I  marvel  that  the  heart  of  an  Israelite  according  to  the 
flesh  should  beat  high  in  prospect  of  the  future  glories  of  his 
nation  1  Why,  the  blood  runs  faster  through  my  own  veins 
when  I  consider  the  predictions  of  their  national  greatness  upon 
earth  in  the  ages  to  come ;  much  more,  then,  must  it  kindle  the 
affections  of  that  people  who  are  the  subject  of  these  promises. 
It  would  appear  from  this  passage,  that  the  ordinary  avocations 
of  life,  such  as  the  dressing  of  vines  and  the  tending  of  flocks, 
will  be  performed  for  them  by  the  Gentiles,  whilst  they  are  to 


♦  Lent  Lect.  for   1846  ("Israel's  Sins  and  Israel's  Hopes"),  p^ 
271-273. 


MESSRS.    BONAR REMARKS.  363 

be  engaged  in  the  higher  offices  of  being  the  priests  of  the 
Lord.' "  * 

I  regret  that  the  Messrs.  Bonar  must  be  added  to  *^  ^57^"^^^^ 
list  of  those  who  have  adopted  these  views.     After  endea-'^    *^    O^-^ 
vouring  to  show  that  the  literal  sense  of  these  prophecies,       ^^  ^^ 
and  particularly  of  the  last  eight  chapters  of  Ezekiel,  is  the 
only  practicable  one — 

Mr.  H.  Bonar  exclaims,  "  Why  should  not  the  temple,  the  wor- 
ship, the  rites,  the  sacrifices,  be  allowed  to  point  to  the  Lamb  that 
was  slain  in  the  millennial  age,  if  such  be  the  purpose  of  the 
Father  1  .  .  .  How  needful  will  [such]  retrospection  be  then, 
especially  to  Israel  ]  How  needful,  when  dwelling  in  the  blaze 
.of  a  triumphant  Messiah's  glory,  to  have  ever  before  them  some 
memorial  of  the  cross,  some  palpable  record  of  the  humbled  Jesus, 
some  visible  exposition  of  his  sin-bearing  work  [i.  e.,  by  the  sacri- 
ficing of  beasts,  as  of  old !]   in  virtue  of  which  they  have  been 

forgiven,  and  saved,  and  loved And  if  God  should  have  yet 

a  wider  circle  of  truth  to  open  up  to  us  out  of  his  word  concerning 
his  Son,  why  should  he  not  construct  a  new  apparatus  for  the  illus- 
tration of  that  truth  7"  f 

On  reading  these  statements,  a  number  of  thoughts 
crowd  into  the  mind,  of  which  the  following  are  a  few. 

1.  Such  startling  literalism  goes  a  great  deal  farther  than 
its  advocates  are  willing,  or  indeed  able  to  carry  it.  They 
are  compelled  to  stop  short ;  and,  so  doing,  it  becomes  evi- 
dent that  their  principles  of  interpretation  are  radically 
wrong.  To  show  this,  we  have  but  to  go  through  with  the 
literal  interpretation  of  their  own  passages.     Thus, 

Isa.  ii.  2,  3:    "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  that 
the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in 

*  Lent  Lect.  for  1847  ("Good  Things  to  Come"),  pp.  165-167. 

t  Coming  and  Kingdom,  <fcc.,  p.  222. 

As  I  shall  have  occasion  to  quote  a  few  words  from  Mr.  A.  Bonar'a 
"Leviticus"  on  this  subject  by  and  by,  I  merely  refer  here  to  hit 
*'  Redomption."  ch.  vi. 


304  LITERALISM    AT    A    STAND. 

the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above  the 
hills ;  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it.  And  many 
people  shall  go  and  say,  Come  ye,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the 
mountain  of  the  Lord,  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob ;  and 
he  will  teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths : 
for  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law,  and  the  word  of  the 
Lord  from  Jerusalem." 

Here,  as  in  so  many  other  cases,  the  unbelieving  Jews 
and  the  pre-millennialists  are  substantially  at  one,  and 
alike  opposed  to  the  overwhelming  majority  of  Christians. 
Both  maintain  that  the  "Zion"  of  this  prediction  is  the 
literal  "  mountain"  on  which  stood  "  the  Lord's  house"  of 
old ;  both  hold  that  "  the  house  of  the  Grod  of  Jacob,"  to 
which  all  nations  are  to  flow,  is  a  literal  and  material' 
temple  to  be  thereon  erected  ;  both  understand  the  "  flow- 
ing'' and  "going  up,"  to  refer  to  a  literal  pilgrimage  to 
this  central  and  metropolitan  seat  of  future  worship  ;  and, 
finally,  both  interpret  "  the  law"  which  is  to  "  go  forth  out 
of  Zion,"  and  the  "  word  of  the  Lord"  to  issue  "  from  Je- 
rusalem," of  no  revelation  yet  vouchsafed — no  "  law"  and 
"  word"  already  in  the  Church's  hands — but  of  new  revela- 
tions of  the  Divine  will,  to  be  made  at  Messiah's  coming 
— his  second  coming,  say  the  one — his  first  and  only  com- 
ing, say  the  other. 

Now,  how  is  the  thing  here  predicted  to  be  literally  done  ? 
To  talk  of  the  Gentile  nations  going  up  to  Jerusalem  "  from 
year  to  year"  (Zech.  xiv.  16),  and  "from  one  new  moon 
to  another,"  yea,  "  from  one  sabbath  to  another"  (Tsa. 
Ixvi.  23),  by  deputies^  or  in  some  such  way,  and  to  tell  us 
of  the  increased  facilities  of  communication  with  the  most 
distant  localities  which  in  our  day  have  been  opened  up, 
and  will,  at  the  time  here  referred  to,  be  vastly  greater,  will 
not  do  here.  It  does  not  meet  the  requirements  of  the  pre- 
diction.    The  whole  religious  worship  and   obedience  of 


HANDLE    GIVEN    TO    THE    JE^V.  36-J 

the  nations  is  made  to  radiate  from,  and  to  hold  of,  this 
metropolitan  temple-service  at  Mount  Zion.  They  go  up 
hither,  "  because  out  of  Zion  goes  forth  the  law,  and  t/ie 
word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem." 

Then,  on  the  literal  principle,  where  is  Christianity,  as  it 
now  exists  ?  Where  its  "  law,"  its  "  word  of  the  Lord," 
its  New  Testament  ?  It  is  not  here  at  all.  Literalism  re- 
fuses to  acknowledge  its  presence,  and  in  place  of  it  holds 
forth  a  revelation  issuing  from  the  sacred  centre  of  the 
world,  at  a  period  which  the  Jew  and  the  pre-millennialist 
agree  in  believing  to  be  still  future.  The  prophecy  doea 
not  say  merely  that  there  will  be  more  revelation  then  than 
now, — some  additions  to  the  stock  already  in  our  posses- 
sion,— as  Mr.  Bickersteth,  Dr.  M'Neile,  Mr.  Wood,  the  Duke 
of  Manchester,  &c.,  speak — but  that  the  kingdom  is  to  be 
constituted,  and  all  the  religious  service  and  obedience  of 
the  world  to  take  law  from  what  is  there  and  thence  to  be 
proclaimed.  And,  in  this  view  of  it,  which  is  clearly  what 
the  prediction  intimates,  is  there  a  Christian  who  does  not 
see  that  the  Jew  has  completely  the  better  of  us  on  pre- 
millennial  principles  ?  Gentlemen,  he  will  tell  us,  you 
may  speak  of  Messiah's  second  advent  supplying  what  hia 
first  failed  to  bring ;  you  may  tell  me  that  the  present  state 
of  things  is  rather  the  preparation  for  the  kingdom  than  the 
kingdom  itself,  which  was  not  to  be  manifested  in  its  pri- 
mary sense  under  this  dispensation  :  But  put  me  through 
this  prediction  of  Isaiah  upon  your  principles.  The  ordi- 
nary interpretation  of  Christians  one  can  understand,  that 
it  means  your  Christianity  universally  embraced,  or  the 
world  baptized  into,  and  cordial  observers  of,  your  New 
Testament  law  and  worship.  The  Jewish  view  of  it  also  ia 
intelligible — that  the  one  revelation,  after  the  times  of  the 
prophets,  and  in  the  days  of  Messiah,  is  yet  to  come.  But 
two  "  laws  going  forth  from  Zion — two  words  of  the  Lord 

2h2 


366  LITERALISM 

from  Jerusalem" — one  not  here  expressed  at  all,  but,  aa 
you  day,  uiiderstood — t'le  other  explicitly  declared  to  be  the 
very  law  of  the  kingdom  and  rule  of  the  Church :  this  will 
not  do. 

2.  The  literal  interpretation  of  these  prophecies  brings  out 
opposite  and  contradictor}  results,  and  so  is  demonstrably 
false.  Thus,  "  In  that  day  there  shall  no  more  be  the 
Canaanite  or  the  uncircumcised  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts."  (Zech.  xiv.  21.)  "So  shall  ye  know  that  I  am 
the  Lord  your  God  dwelling  in  Zion,  my  holy  mountain : 
then  shall  Jerusalem  be  holy,  and  there  shall  no  strangers 
pass  through  her  any  more  "  (Joel  iii.  17.)  And  lest  any 
one  should  say  that  the  converted  Grentiles  will  then  be 
regarded  as  Israelites  and  no  "  strangers,"  hear  the  follow- 
ing from  Ezek.  xliv.  9,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  No 
stranger,  uncircumcised  in  heart,  nor  uncircumcised  in  fiesk^ 
shall  enter  into  my  sanctuary,  of  any  stranger  that  is  among 
the  children  of  Israel."  Perhaps  it  may  be  said,  That 
merely  intimates  that  the  Israelites  are  to  have  ordinances 
of  their  own,  with  which  the  converted  Gentiles,  in  their 
services  at  Mount  Zion,  are  not  permitted  to  intermeddle. 
I  answer,  no  such  distinction  is  drawn  in  Isaiah's  prediction, 
already  quoted  ;  nay,  the  reverse  is  studiously  expressed. 
If  his  language  means  any  thing  literally,  it  means  that  the 
whole  world  is  to  become  one  great  Israelitish  nation  and 
Church,  with  one  temple,  one  worship,  and  one  law  in  com- 
mon. The  nations  not  only  go  to  Jerusalem — which  the 
above  texts,  when  literally  interpreted,  positively  forbid — 
but  they  "go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house,  to  the 
house  (itself)  of  the  God  of  Jacob,"  which  in  Jewish  phrase 
means,  beyond  doubt,  to  do  all  that  is  competent  to  an  Is- 
raelitish worshipper.  Either,  then,  all  nations  will  submit 
to  the  literal  rite  of  circumcision,  in  order  to  qualify  them- 
selves for  entering  Jerusalem  and  the  hous3  of  the  Lord, 


SELF  CONTRADICTORY.  367 

forbidden  to  the  uncirciimcised — which  no  pre-millennialist 
that  we  know  holds — or  the  prediction  is  not  to  be  literally 
interpreted  at  all.  Even  the  Jews  do  not  look  for  the  literal 
circumcision  of  all  nations.  In  this,  however,  they  only  show 
how  untenable  is  their  ground,  in  attempting  to  justify  their 
unbelief  from  their  own  prophets.  When  they  point  to  such 
a  prediction  as  this  of  Isaiah,  to  show  that  Christianity  has 
not  realised  it  in  its  literal  sense,  our  reply  is  triumphant : 
"  You  do  not  expect  it  to  be  realised  yourselves.  You 
admit  that  Gentiles  are  not  to  be  circumcised,  and  you  talk 
of  '  the  precepts  of  Noah,'  as  all  they  will  be  required  to 
observe  for  salvation.  But  that  is  not  the  doctrine  of  this 
prediction.  In  its  literal  sense,  it  obviously  announces  the 
JuDAiZATioN  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD  ;  and  if  cvcu  you  think 
this  too  much  to  believe,  you  must  fall  back  upon  some  other 
principle  of  interpretation  than  the  literal." 

Or,  try  the  effect  of  literalism  upon  Mai.  i.  11 :  "  From  the 
rising  of  the  sun  unto  the  going  down  of  the  same  my  name 
shall  be  great  among  the  G  entiles  ;  and  in  every  place  incense 
shall  be  offered  unto  my  name,  and  a  pure  offering :  for  my 
name  shall  be  great  among  the  heathen,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts."  Are  there  any  except  Romanists^  who  take  "  incense" 
here,  and  the  "  pure  offering"  literally  ?  Do  not  all  under- 
stand the  prediction  to  mean  simply  this,  that  not  at  Jerusa- 
lem only,  but  every  where,  and  not  by  Jews  only,  but  by  all 
nations  without  distinction,  from  one  end  of  the  world  to  the 
other,  acceptable  worship  shall  ascend  to  God  ?  And  how 
is  it  that  all  unite  in  so  understanding  it  1  Clearly  because 
"  incense^^  and  "  offering^^^  in  the  Jewish  sense,  having  given 
place  under  the  Gospel  to  "  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable 
to  God  by  Jesus  Christ,"  there  is  no  other  kind  of  worship 
of  which  we  can  understand  the  prediction ;  and  all  that  I 
insist  on  is,  that  this  principle  of  prophetic  interpretatior 
be  carried  through  all  cases  of  like  nature. 


308    LITERALISM   CONTRADICTS  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 

But  the  Jewish  idea,  under  which  this  prediction  is 
couched,  is  not  merely  that  "  incense  and  a  pure  offering" 
shall  be  offered  to  God  by  all  nations,  but  "  in  every  place^^ 
— as  if  they  would  have  the  temple  service  at  home,  and 
not  need  to  go  to  Jerusalem  for  it.  Now  we  have  seen, 
that  in  other  places  the  reverse  of  this  is  expressly  pre- 
dicted. In  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel,  the  catholicity  of  the 
Church's  worship  is  expressed  by  all  nations  flowing  to 
Jerusalem,  and  going  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  to 
the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob  ;  whereas  in  Malachi,  instead 
of  them  going  to  the  temple,  the  temple  is  represented  as  coming 
to  them.  If,  then,  we  would  not  make  the  prophets  contra- 
dict themselves,  we  must  understand  both  representations 
as  designed  to  announce  just  the  catholicity  and  spirituality 
of  the  Gospel  worship. 

3.  The  results,  of  this  literalism  are  in  fiat  contradiction 
to  the  New  Testament.  If  it  is  possible  to  gather  any 
thing  from  the  last  and  clearest  revelation  of  God's  mind 
and  will,  this  is  a  New  Testament  truth,  That  the  wall 

OF  PARTITION  BETWEEN  JeW  AND  GeNTILE  HAS  BEEN  BROKEN 


"He  is  our  peace,  who  hath  made  both  (Jew  and  Gentile)  one, 
and  hath  broken  down  the  middle  wall  of  partition  between 
us:  having  abolished  in  his  fllesh  the  enmity,  even  the  law  of 
commandments  contained  in  ordinances.  Now  therefore  ye 
(Gentiles)  are  no  more  strangers  and  foreigners,  but  fellow- 
citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God."  (Eph. 
ii.  14,  15, 19.) 

It  is  impossible  for  language  more  clearly  to  intimate 
that  Jews  and  Gentiles  are  placed,  by  the  work  of  Christ, 
on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality  before  God,  not  only  in  point 
of  acceptance,  but  as  members  of  the  Chic  ch  visible.  Pre- 
millennialists  make  this  to  mean  merely  that  Gentiles  have 
now  access  to  Christ  and  salvation,  as  well  as  Jews.     But 


JEWISH    PECULIARITIES    FOR     EVER    GONE  369 

Christ  and  salvation  were  never  inaccessible  to  Gentiles. 
The  ceremonial  barriers  placed  them  in  a  more  disadvan- 
tageous position,  in  this  respect,  than  the  Jews,  but  that 
was  all.  And  it  is  just  these  ritual  disadvantages  which  the 
apostle  says  have  been  taken  out  of  the  way,  to  make  room 
for  a  new  incorporation  of  both  into  one  fellowship,  having 
all  things  common,  as  pertaining  to  the  "  a/y"  and  "  house^' 
of  God.  The  ceremonial  sacredness  of  places,  persons, 
times,  vessels — all  typical  institutions  and  observances — 
have  yielded  to  the  spiritualities  and  simplicities  of  the 
New  Testament,  to  the  genius  of  which  all  such  distinctions 
are  utterly  foreign. 

But  our  Lord's  announcements  to  the  woman  of  Samaria, 
when  consulting  him  about  the  proper  place  of  {central) 
worship,  are,  if  possible,  still  more  explicit : — 

"  Woman,  believe  me.  the  hour  cometh  when  ye  shall  neither  in 
this  mounfaiii,  nor  yet  at  Jerusatem,  worship  the  Father.  Y% 
worship  ye  know  not  what :  we  know  what  we  worship :  for 
salvation  is  of  the  Jews.  But  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is, 
when  the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit 
and  in  truth  ;  for  the  Father  seeketh  sucl>  to  worship  him." 
(John  iv.  21-23.) 

Does  this  mean  that,  under  the  new  economy,  the  wor- 
ship of  Gentiles  out  of  Jerusalem  would  be  as  acceptable  as 
the  worship  of  the  Jews  in  it — that  the  central  and  sacred 
character  of  Jerusalem  would  continue  unchanged  ;  but 
that  believing  Gentiles,  though  as  much  "  strangers  and 
foreigners"  as  ever,  as  truly  "  aliens  from  the  common- 
wealth of  Israel"  as  ever,  in  respect  of  ceremonies,  and 
Church  officers,  and  modes  of  worship,  would  nevertheless 
get  access  to  Christ  and  salvation  as  truly  as  the  Jews  ? 
Could  such  a  construction,  by  possibility,  be  put  upon  the 
Saviour's  language,  one  could  listen  to  the  arguments  for 
tt   millennial    Judaism.      But    as,   beyond    all  dou])t,  the 


370  JEWISH    CEREMONIES    STILL    EXPECTED. 

Saviour  meant  to  announce  that  Jerusalem  was  going 
to  lose  its  peculiar  character — that  it  would  cease  to  be, 
even  to  the  Jews  themselves,  "  the  city  of  their  solemni- 
ties, whither  the  tribes  should  go  up" — that,  in  fact,  it 
would  possess  not  a  whit  more  of  distinctive  religious 
character  than  the  mountain  of  Samaria,  about  which  the 
woman  consulted  him — I  cannot  but  wonder  that  Chris- 
tian men,  sitting  at  the  Redeemer's  feet  to  receive  the  law 
at  his  mouth,  should  dream  of  a  revived  Judaism,  and 
picture  to  themselves  "  believing  nations  frequenting  the" 
restored  "  temple,  in  order  to  get  understanding  in  the 
types  and  shadows ;  looking  on  the  sons  of  Zadok  minis- 
tering in  that  peculiar  sanctuary,  to  learn  portions  of  truth 
with  new  impressiveness  and  fulness."*  Ah  !  brother, 
never  more  shall  Jerusalem  be  "  the  city  of  the  great 
King" — the  place  of  Jehovah's  special  presence  and  power, 
grace  and  glory,  in  connexion  with  a  ceremonial  worship. 
"  In  Salem  was  his  tabernacle,  and  his  dwelling-place  in 
Zion."  (Ps.  Ixxvi.  1.)  But  by  the  work  of  Christ  these 
localities  are  stript  for  ever  of  their  ceremonial  sacredness. 
"  Salem"  and  "  Zion"  are  now  in  every  place  where  "  the 
Father  is  worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  It  is  this 
very  change  beyond  all  doubt  which  the  apostle  designed 
to  express,  when  he  said  to  the  Hebrews,  who  were  cling- 
ing to  the  local  Jerusalem  and  the  literal  Zion,  after  all 
their  glory  had  passed  away,  "  But  ye  are  come  unto 
Mount  Zion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the  living  Gtod,  the 
HEAVENLY  Jerusalem" — (Hcb  xii.  22) — the  Zion  and 
Jerusalem  of  a  catholic  and  spiritual  and  heavenly  Israel — • 
the  only  Zion  and  Jerusalem  that  will  ever,  in  any  religi- 
ous sense,  exist  upon  earth.  To  say  in  the  face  of  such  a 
statement,  that  the  religious  peculiarities  of  the  local  Jeru- 
ealem  and  the  literal  Mount  Zion  are  either  not  abolished 

•  Bonar's  (A.)  "  Leviticus."    Preface,  p.  x. 


INCREASE    MATHER    ON    THE    CEREMONIES.  371 

at  all,  or  abolished  only  for  a  time,  to  be  again  restored,  is, 
I  must  say,  intolerable. 

"  The  Church-polity,"  says  good  Increase  Mather— 
father  of  the  well  kno^n  Cotton  Mather,  and  a  pre-mil- 
lennialist — "  which  Israel  shall  tlien  [in  their  converted  and 
restored  state]  be  under,  shall  not  be  a  carnal  one,  not 
as  was  from  Moses  unto  Christ,  but  a  very  spiritual  polity  ; 
for  they  shall  be  no  more  under  the  Mosaical  pedagogy — 
no  more  under  the  ceremonial  law  It  hath  been  charged 
upon  those  who  did  in  the  primitive  times  assert  the  glori- 
ous reign  of  Christ  upon  earth,  that  they  did  also  maintain 
that  there  would  be  sacrifices  and  other  ceremonies  of 
Moses'  law:  So  Jerome  (on  Jer.  xix.  10,  and  on  Zech. 
xiv.  10),  saith  that  the  ancient  doctors  held.  I  do  believe 
that  that  is  a  very  injurious  charge ;  and  that  it  never  once 
entered  into  the  heart  of  any  of  those  godly  and  learned 
teachers  in  the  Church  to  imagine  such  a  thing.  However, 
sure  I  am,  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  is  express  to  the 
contrary.  Hence,  the  Jews,  after  their  conversion,  are 
said  to  be  under,  not  the  old,  but  the  new  covenant ;  that 
is.  not  under  the  old  but  the  new  manner  (for  the  covenant 
of  grace,  as  to  the  substance  of  it,  is  for  ever  the  same)  of 
administration  of  the  covenant.  Hence,  the  Lord  saith  to 
Israel,  "  But  not  by  thy  covenant."  (Ezek.  xvi.  61.) 
The  truth  is,  that  Christ,  by  his  coming,  abolished  the  cere- 
monial law  and  nailed  it  to  his  cross,  and  buried  it  in  his 
grave.  And  a  most  loathsome  work  do  they  perform, 
BOTH  TO  God  and  man,  that  dig  up  the  ceremonies  out 

OF  THAT  GRAVE  WHERE  JeSUS   ChrIST    LURIED   THEM   ABOVE 
SIXTEEN  HUNDRED  YEARS  AGO."* 

*  The  Mystery  of  Israel's  Salvation  Explained  and  Applied  :  or,  a 
Discourse  concerning  the  General  Conversion  of  the  Israelitish  Nation. 
By  Increase  Mather,  M.  A.,  teacher  of  a  Church  in  Boston,  in  New 
England.     Printed  in  the  year  1669.     Pp.  113,  114. 

Joseph  Psbuy,  too,  in  his  comments  on  those  passages  in  which  torn 


373  EZEK1EL*S    TEMPLE. 

What  would  this  worthy  man  have  said,  had  he  hfard 
Mr,  A.  Bonar  expatiating  on  the  lessons  to  be  taught  by 
the  restored  sacrifices — had  he  heard  Mr  H.  Bonar  dwell- 
ing on  the  need  of  them  amidst  the  blaze  of  Messiah's  glory 
— had  he  heard  Mr.  Freemantle  telling  a  Christian  audience, 
that  in  the  restored  temple  '•  the  burnt-offering  will  be  dis- 
cerned  by  an  enlightened  eye,  and  will  call  to  mind  the 
lost  and  ruined  state  of  man  in  Adam — wholly  consumed. 
The  shv-offering  will  set  forth  actual  trespass,  shortcoming. 
The   feace-offe.ring   and    thank-offering^  the   abounding  and 
exceeding  great  love  of  God  our  Saviour  :  As  the  blood  flows 
from  trie  victim,  the  mind  will  trace  the  characters  of  death 
on  account  of  sin,  and  in  those  very  characters  decipher 
life  in  atonement  for  sin.     And  as  in  vision  John  beheld 
a  Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain,  so  will  the  Israelite  behold  in 
reality  the  type  (that  is,  beasts  literally  slain)  and  the  anti- 
type  face   to   face !"     ( Ut   supra.)     When  the   author  of 
this  Lecture  adds,  immediately  after  the  words  quoted,  "  O 
happy  and  blessed  period  !     In  that  day  shall  the  flocks  of 
Kedar  be  gathered  together  unto  thee,  the  rams  of  Nebaioth 
minister  unto  thee,"  one  feels  disposed  to  ask,  Were  the 
two  men  of  the  same  religion  ?     But  it  is  said,  "  The  ac- 
count of  this  (restored)  temple,  which   occupies   chapters 
xl.  to  xlvi.  of  Ezekiel,  is  embedded  in  literalities  on  either 

side Here,   then,   lies   the   difficulty.      All   seems 

literal  on  either  side  ;  and  is  there  to  arise,  in  the  midst  of 
this,  a  great  spiritual  building,  possessing  nothing  in  com- 
mon with  the  literalities  around  it  ?  The  point  of  difficulty 
lies  ihere'^*  To  this  I  unhesitatingly  reply,  Let  the  lite- 
ralities go,  if  they  cannot  stand  with  the  naked  and  unmis- 
takeable  announcements  of  the  Lord  of  the  temple.     I  do 

ple-Ianguage  is  employed,  never  seems  to  imagine  any  but  a  fi'jmaiive 
Interpretation  of  them. 
♦  Bonar's  "  Redemption  Drawing  Nigh»"  p.  99. 


THE  BEGGARLY  ELEMENTS.  373 

not  quite  see,  indeed,  that  we  are  shut  up  to  the  alteriui" 
tive  of  losing  all  literalities,  or  making  everything  literal. 
But  I  am  perfectly  prepared  to  part  with  whatever  may  be 
demanded  by  a  firm  adherence  to  the  announcements  of 
Christ,  True,  "  there  are  many  dark  things  in  the  word  ;"* 
but  they  will  become  darker  still,  if,  instead  of  explaining 
the  dark  things  by  the  clear,  we  explain  the  clear  things  by 
the  dark^  making  the  Old  Testament  the  key  to  the  New.  It 
is  this  unnatural  method  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all 
the  Jewish  expectations  of  Christians;  and  never  till  we 
reverse  the  process  are  we  safe  from  the  danger  to  which 
Jerome  alludes,  of  Jvdaizing  our  Christianity^  instead  of 
Christianizing  the  adherents  of  Judaism. 

As  a  last  refuge,  we  sometimes  hear  it  said,  that,  though 
an  Aaronic  priesthood,  and  bloody  sacrifices,  and  circumci- 
sion, and  a  metropolitan  ceremonial  at  Jerusalem,  may  be 
unsuitable  to  the  genius  of  the  present  economy,  they  may, 
for  aught  that  we  know,  be  consistent  enough  with  one  to 
come.  This  surely  is  a  desperate  argument.  Nor  should 
I  allude  to  it,  but  to  ask  the  reader  whether  this  be  the  im- 
pression which  he  gathers  from  the  Apostle's  reasonings  on 
the  subject  of  the  ceremonies,  in  the  epistles  to  the  Gala- 
tians^  Colossians,  and  Hebrews  ?  Was  it  only  the  abuse 
of  them  against  which  he  wrote  ?  Or  was  it  only  their 
temporary  removal  which  he  contemplated,  in  the  view  of 
their  ultimate  restoration  ?  Does  he  not  characterise  them 
as,  in  their  own  nature.^  "  worldly  rudiments,"  "  beggarly 
elements."  the  mere  discipline  of  minors,  as  a  "  bondage" 
uusuited  to  the  liberty  of  Christ's  freemen  ?  (Gal.  iv.) 
Are  they  not  represented  as  "  a  shadow,"  of  which  "  the 
body  is  Christ"  for  the  entire  neglect  and  abandonment 
of  which  Christians  ought  not  to  allow  themselves  to  be 
^jadged"  by  Judaizing    zealots,  who    were    swarming    in 

•  *'  Redemption,"  p.  103. 
2i 


374  ANTIQUATED    SHADOWS. 

Bome  of  the  infant  churches,  and  whose  policy  it  was  to  sap 
and  mine  whatever  was  spiritual^  and  free^  and  catholic  in 
the  new  economy?     (Col.  ii.)     Is  not  the  priesthood  said 
to  be  "  changed,"  and  the  ceremonial  institute  to  be  "  dis- 
annulled," expressly  "  because  of  the  wea/mess  and  unproJU- 
ableness  thereof V      Now,    to  what  order  did  those  "sons 
of  Zadok "  belong,  the  "  ministrations"  of  whose  descend- 
ants in  the  restored  temple    are    expected  to  give  "  new 
impressiveness  and  fulness  to  certain  portions  of  truth  ?" 
They  belonged,  as  every  one  knows,  to  that  very  Aaronic 
order  which  the  apostle  says  has  been  swept  oflf  the  stage 
of  the  Church,  with  all  that  appertained  to  it,  as  a  weak 
and  useless  thing  after  Christ's  coming.       Yet  farther,  is 
not   the   co-existence   of   two   priesthoods    regarded    as   a 
thing  incongruous ;  and  does  not  the  apostle  represent  the 
whole   ritual   system  as   in   a  "  decaying,,  antiquated,  and 
evanescent"    state,  when  he  wrote  ?     (Chap,  viii.)      Now, 
is  it  conceivable  that  such  language  would  have  been  used 
of  a  system  only  temporarily  set  aside,  to  be  brought  back, 
with  a  few  changes,  to  more  than  its  pristine  splendour  ? 
If    such    expectations,    or    any   thing   like    them,    are    not 
directly  in  the  teeth  of  all  that  the  apostle    says  on    the 
subject  of  the  temple  service,  he  has  used  language  which 
it  was  next  to  impossible  not  to  misunderstand,  and  which 
the    whole    Church,   with    hardly   an    exception,   has   mis- 
understood. 

It  gives  me  extreme  pleasure  to  be  able  to  enrich  my 
pages  with  the  following  statement  of  the  Duke  of  Man- 
chester^ which  for  acuteness  and  force  of  argument  is  all 
that  I  could  desire  on  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  and 
which,  considering  the  quarter  from  which  it  comes,  may 
have  a  weight  with  the  brethren  from  whom  I  differ  which 
my  own  statements  may  not  possess.  The  intrinsic  value 
of  the  extract  will  compensate  for  its  length. 


ADMIRABLE    VIEWS    OF    DUKE    OF    MANCHESTER.    375 

"  The  sacrifices,"  says  his  Grace,  "  mentioned  by  Ezekiel, 
seem  t  -)  me  quite  unsuitable  to  any  period  of  the  Church  aftei 
the  first  advent  of  Messiah ;  for,  according  to  the  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  themselves,  the  sacrifices  mentioned  by  Ezekiel  are 
those  very  ones  which  are  done  away  by  Christ.  In  Ezekiel 
there  is  provision  for  slaying  the  sin-offering  and  the  trespass- 
offering  (xl.  39).  .  .  The  apostle,  quoting  from  the  40th  Psalm, 
says  '  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  wouldest  not ;  in  burnt- offer- 
ings and  sacrifices  for  sin  thou  hast  had  no  pleasure :'  then 
applying  this  quotation,  he  says  (Heb.  x.  6,  9),  '  He  taketh  away 
the  first  that  he  may  establish  the  second.'  The  sacrifices  that 
were  by  the  law  must  be  abolished,  in  order  that  the  offering  of 
Christ  might  be  established.  Would  there  not  then  be  a  re- 
membrance of  sin,  in  opposition  to  the  blessing  of  the  new 
covenant  (Heb.  viii.  12),  '  Their  sins  and  iniquities  will  I 
remember  no  more.'  Again,  there  is  mention  made  of  the 
bullock  whose  body  was  to  be  burnt  without  the  sanctuary 
(xliii.  21) ;  which  the  apostle  applies  to  Christ  suffering  without 
the  gate,  and  to  the  necessity  which  there  was  for  those  who 
would  enjoy  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  Christ,  of  going 
without  the  pale  of  Jewish  ordinances :  while  those  who  con- 
tinue in  the  use  of  the  ceremonial  law  have  '  no  right'  to  partake 
of  Christ  (Heb.  xiii.  10-13). — Again,  according  to  Ezekiel,  cir- 
cumcision was  to  be  imperative  not  only  amongst  the  Jews,  but 
with  strangers  (xliv.  9) ;  while  the  apostle  tells  us  (Gal.  v.  2-4), 
'If  ye  be  circumcised,  Christ  shall  profit  you  nothing.'  —  And 
lastly,  in  Ezekiel's  temple  the  passover  was  to  have  been  regularly 
observed  (xlv.  21);  but  [since]  'Christ  our  passover  has  been  »u 
crificed  for  us,'  are  we  to  go  back  to  what  are  now  '  beggarly  ele- 
ments' ? 

"  Perhaps  the  advocates  for  the  restoration  of  sacrifices  would 
say  they  are  to  be  commemorative  or  eucharistic ;  /  say  this  view 
appears  more  objectionable  than  tlie  spiritual  hypothesis,  because  that 
only  evades  ^cv\\)i\\vQ,  this  opposes  it ;  for  the  object  of  these  sacri- 
fices is  expressly  declared  —  they  are  for  him  "that  erreth,  and 
they  are  to  reconcile,  to  cleanse,  and  to  purge  (Ezek.  xlv.  20; 
xliii.  20;  xlvi.  20).  If  they  were  intended  as  eucharistic,  they 
would  not  be  called  '  sms'  and  ^  trespasses i  they  would  rather 
be    called    '  peace '    and    '  thank-offerings ; '    but    we    have    these 


376  ADMIRABLE    VIEWS    OF 

mentioned  also  (xlv.  17,  margin),  and  distinct  from  the  '  sin  and 
'  Lnrnt-off(;rings.'  *  ...  1  think  it  possible  that  the  prophecy  ol 
E?:ekiel  may  in  part  become  the  occasion  of  those  Jews  who  re- 
ject Messiah  having  recourse  to  those  '  beggarly  elements ; '  and 

I    THINK    IT    IS    A    SUBJECT   OF    VERY    GRAVE    CONSIDERATION,    WHETHER 

WE  Christians  may  not  put  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  op 
THE  Jews,  by  admitting  that  the  restoration  op  sacrifices, 
after  they  have  been  done  away  in  Christ,  can  be  in  accord- 
ance WITH  the  will  of  God To  think  now  of  re-esUb- 

lishing  any  sacrifices  which  must  be  done  away  in  Christ,  woald 
be  utterly  unsuitable  to  tlie  Church ;  it  would  be  turning  again  to  the 
weak  and  beggarly  elements ;  tJierefore  all  that  portion  of  EzekieVs  vision 
which  refers  to  them,  to  use  the  apostle's  expression,  must  have 
gioian  old.  .  .  . 

"  I  find  in  prophetic  language  sacrifices  used  figuratively,  to 
denote  ])rayer  (Ps.  cxli,  2);  praise  (Ps.  liv.  6,  Jer.  xvii.  26, 
xxxiii.  11) ;  thanksgiving  (Ps.  cvii.  22,  cxvi.  17) ;  joy  (Ps.  xxvii. 
6) ;  righteousness  (Ps.  iv.  5,  li.  19) ;  confession  (Ps.  Ivi.  13) ; 
contrition  (Ps.  li.  17) ;  judgments  (Isa.  xxxiv.  6,  xlvi.  10,  Ezek. 
xxxix.  17-19,  Zeph.  i.  7,  8.)  I  find  that  some  of  the  instances  ad- 
ditced  by  the  advocates  of  literal  sacrifices,  if  taken  literally,  would  prove 
more  than  those  advocates  vmnld  admit,  for  they  refer  not  to  the  Jeips,  hit 
to  Gentiles,  e.  g.,  Isa.  xix.  21 ;  Ivi.  7 ;  Mai.  i.  ll.f  And  when  I 
find  in  the  New  Testament  that  believers  are  a  royal  priesthood 
(1  Pet.  ii.   6,  9),    and,   as  priests,  partake  of  the    altar    (Heb 


*  It  IS  impossible,  I  think,  that  the  Messrs.  Bpnar,  and  those  who  with 
•them  look  for  the  restoration  of  animal  sin-ofl^erings  and  burnt-ofl^erings, 
as  eucharislic  memorials  of  Christ's  death,  should  not  feel  the  force  of 
this  arsfument. 

t  The  last  of  these  examples  has  been  commented  on  for  the  purpose 
of  showing  that  the  altar  of  burnt-"  ofl'ering"  and  the  altar  of  "incense" 
will  be  not  at  Jerusalem  only,  but  "  in  every  place,"  if  it  is  to  be  taken 
literally.  (P,  368.)  His  Grace  adduces  it,  and  the  other  two  passages, 
to  show  that  the  Gentiles  will  in  that  case  offer  Jewish  sacrifices.  Is  not 
this  what  I  have  termed  the  Judaization  of  the  whole  world  ?  No- 
thing can  be  clearer  than  that  this  is  what  all  these  prophecies  announce, 
if  they  are  to  be  interpreted  literally ;  and  if  this  is  too  much  even  for  a 
Jew  to  take  in,  we  must  fall  back  upon  the  figurative  sense  as  the  only 
rational  and  self-consistent  one. 


DUKE    OF    MANCHESTER.  377 

xiii.  10;  1  Cor.  x.  16,  21),  as  priests  offer  spiritual  sacrifices, 
whether  of  praise  (Heb.  xiii.  15),  and  good  works  (Heb.  xiii.  13, 
16 ;  Phil.  iv.  18),  or  whether  of  themselves  either  in  life  or  death 
(Rom.  xii.  1,  xv.  16;  Phil.  ii.  17;  2  Tim.  iv.  6);  I  am  induced 
to  believe  that  the  prophets  refer  to  the  spiritual  and  reasonable 
services  indicated  by  the  typical  ordinances,  rather  than  the  heggarhj 
elements  themselves.  Nor  do  I  think  that  this  mode  of  interpreta- 
tion can  justly  be  charged  with  being  a  departure  from  the 
principle  of  literal  interpretation.*  Each  of  the  sacrifices  enig- 
matically signified  certain  determinate  parts  of  spiritual  worship ; 
the  prophets,  who  lived  during  the  dispensation  of  shadows, 
lised  the  language  current  at  that  time,  and  conveyed  the  ideas 
of  the  things  symbolized,  under  the  terras  of  the  symbols  them- 
selves. In  saying  this,  we  do  not  admit  any  thing  arbitrary  in 
the  principles  of  interpretation ;  the  literal  sacrifices  were  forms 
by  which  the  spiritual  worship  of  the  enlightened  Jew  was  ex- 
pressed, and  shadows  of  a  time  of  reformation;  the  prophets 
conveyed  hy  words  what  the  ceremonial  worship  expressed  by 
things;  and  it  is  no  more  arbitrary  in  the  one  case  than  in  the 
other,  to  say  that  they  predicted  not  the  shadow  but  the  sub- 
stance, not  the  form  but  the  spirit  of  true  worship.  Nor  is 
there  any  thing  indetei-mlnate  admitted;  for  as  the  prophets  take 
their  language  from  the  ceremonial  appointments,  and  as  each 
species  of  sacrifice  symbolized  a  determinate  idea,  so  the  lan- 
guage, when  used  figuratively  or  symbolically,  equally  conveys  a 
fixed  and  determinate  idea.f    Why  may  not '  the  rams  of  Nebaioth' 

♦  One  is  almost  amused  at  the  jealousy  with  which  his  Grace  antici- 
pates and  repels  this  objection.  Undoubtedly,  he  "departs  from  the 
principle  of  literal  interpretation"  in  the  only  sense  in  which  its  advo- 
cates contend  for  it;  and  the  grounds  on  which  he  defends  himself  in 
the  next  sentence  from  the  charge  which  his  friends  will  of  course,  and 
with  justice,  bring  against  him,  are  the  very  grounds  on  which  I  myself 
feel  warranted  and  constrained  to  apply  the  figurative  principle  to  these 
prophecies. 

t  Nothing  can  be  more  admirable  than  these  defences  against  the 
charge  of  arbitrary  and  indtterminate  interpretation,  which  is  continu- 
ally made  by  the  strict  literullsts.  I  only  hope  his  Grace  will  allow  ma 
to  take  the  benefit  of  it;  and  if  1  go  bey<>nd  the  legitimate  application  of 
t  in  any   case^   I  shall  gladly  submit  to  his   correction.     I  certainly 

2i2 


378  DUKE    OF    MANCHESTER. 

(Isa.  ix.  7),  be  understood  symbolically,  as  well  as  'the  failings 
of  Bashan '  (Ezek.  xxxix.  18),  or  *  the  kidneys  of  rams '  (Isa. 
xxxiv.  6).  or  '  the  calves  of  the  lips  '  (Hos.  xiv.  2)  ]  If  it  be  said 
that  the  Egyptians  shall  '  do  sacrifice  and  oblation '  (Isa.  xix.  21), 
is  it  violent  to  look  for  the  explanation  in  the  following  words, 
*  Yea,  they  shall  vow  a  vow  and  perform  it  ] '  Is  it  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  burnt-offerings  and  sacrifices  of  the  Gentiles  de- 
note the  prayer  which  all  nations  will  offer  in  God's  house,  or  even 
to  understand  the  burnt-offerings  and  sacrifices  of  the  Jews  me7itioned 
in  connexion  with  the  sacrifices  of  praise,  as  themselves  indicatives 
OP  spiritual  worship  %  * 

need  not.  Should  his  Grace  get  his  eye  on  Lowers  Magazine  for  Oct.^ 
Nov.,  Dec,  1847,  he  will  find  in  the  papers  on  the  ^^  Restoration  of  the 
Jev-s,^''  that  I  am  as  jealous  as  he  is  of  "  arbitrary  and  indeterminate'' 
interpretation. 

*  Finished  Mystery,  pp.  253-257,  260-262. 

It  may  be  asked  how  his  Grace  "  thinks  the  lati«r  chapters  of  Ezekiel  can  be 
understood  according  to  the  hteral  simplicity  of  Xhe  language,  without  being  con- 
trary to  the  analogy  of  faith."  It  is  soon  told.  "  The  promise  [of  this  whole  tem- 
ple-worship] was  altogether  conditional  on  their  '  putting  away  their  whoredoms, 
being  ashamed  of  all  they  had  done,'  &c.  (Ezek.  xliii.  9-11.)  ....  But  they  diu 
not  take  advantage  of  the  pi  offered  mercy  ;  tlierefore  the  promise  lapsed,  and  the 
Israelites  have  no  warrant  to  expect  that  the  offer  as  there  made  to  them,  will  ever 
again  be  proposed."  Pp.  256,  257.)  I  am  afraid  this  will  not  do.  It  is  the  theory 
of  those  who  deny  the  future  restoration,  and  even  national  convention  of  the 
Jews;  who,  finding  that  a  great  many  more  promises  than  this  one  are  connected 
with  a  certain  preparation  of  the  people  for  the  reception  of  them — which  prepara- 
tion was  never  realized  by  the  ancient  Israelites,  to  whom  these  promises  were 
immediately  addressed — consider  them  all  as  lapsed,  so  far  as  the  Israelites  were 
distinctively  concerned  in  them,  and  now  outstanding  only  in  so  far  as  they  in- 
volve evangelical  ideas,  applicable  alike  to  Jew  and  Gentile.  His  Grace,  though 
he  thus  easily  gets  rid  of  Ezekiel,  seems  to  deduce  from  other  prophecies,  ••  that  a 
literal  temple  will  be  erected,  and  literal  sacrifices  offered,  although  not  the  typical 
trespass-offerings  and  sin-offerings,"  which  he  tays  tliese  other  prophecies  pre 
careful  not  to  mention  (p.  259) — a  difference  this  between  Ezekiel  and  the  other 
propliets  "which  Mr.  Brown  (he  says)  seems  to  have  overlooked."  I  think  this 
"  important  difference  "  could  easily  be  shown  to  be  imaginary  ;  but  I  cannot  swell 
out  farther  this  already  too  extended  chapter.  (Compare,  however,  the  sacrifices 
mentioned  as  abolished — without  respect  to  either  Jew  or  Gentile — in  Heb.  x.  8, 
and  the  corresponding  words  in  Hebrew,  with  tho.se  mentioned  in  Isa.  Ivi.  7,  to 
which  his  Grace  himself  refers.) 

I  may  be  asked  how  I  explain  the  last  eight  chapters  of  Ezekiel  myself.  That 
this  is  one  of  the  dark  and  difficult  parts  of  Scripture,  is  felt  by  all ;  but  though  no 
clear  light  could  be  thrown  upon  it,  it  is  something  to  be  able  to  say  what  it  doet 
not,  and  cannot  mean.    That  it  was  meant  for  the  second  temple,  or  some  other 


SUMMARY.  379 

Thus  have  I  shown  that  Scripture  affords  no  warrant  for 
expecting  the  restoration  of  Jewish  peculiarities  during  the 
millennium ;  that  the  literal  way  of  interpreting  those  pro- 
phecies which  are  thought  to  express  this,  is  not,  cannot  be, 
gone  through  with  by  either  Christians  or  unbelieving 
Jews ;  that  it  brings  out  opposite  and  contradictory  results, 
and  so  must  be  a  false  principle  of  interpretation  ;  that  such 
expectations  are  in  flat  contradiction  to  the  most  emphatic 
declarations  both  of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles  ;  that  it  is  to 
retrograde  from  manhood  to  childhood  to  look  for  a  conver- 
sion of  the  present  catholic  and  spiritual  economy  into  a 
vast,  world-wide,  baptized  Judaism,  having  its  head-quar- 
ters on  the  literal  Mount  Zion  ;  and  that  the  eucharistic 
theory,  by  which  it  is  attempted  to  graft  this  doctrine,  of 
animal  sacrifices  restored  in  the  millennium,  upon  the  faith 
of  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world, 
is,  by  the  admirable  showing  of  one  of  themselves,  as  unten- 
able as  it  is  repulsive  to  the  best  feelings  of  the  Christian. 


which  might  have  been  built  if  tlie  Jews  had  possessed  a  character  wliich  they  did 
not — I  cannot  think,  with  any  light  whicli  I  at  present  possess.  With  still  ereater 
confidence  do  I  reject  all  application  of  it  to  any  literal  third  temple  to  be  hereafter 
erected  at  Jerusalem.  We  seem,  therefore,  to  be  shut  up  to  one  general  view  of 
prophecy.  The  beams  of  evangelical  truth  which  shine  through  several  of  its  di- 
rections, lead  me  to  look  for  the  explanation  of  the  whole  in  that  direction,  and  to 
believe  that  a  sober  and  patient  investigation  of  the  typical  and  symbolical  language 
of  the  Old  Testament,  in  the  light  of  the  New.  would  disclose  in  this  prophecy— as 
Mr.  A.  Bonar  says,  though  not  quite  in  his  sexwe — "  treasures  hid  in  the  sand." 
All  the  pains  which  Mr.  H.  Bonar  has  tHken  to  expose  the  absurdity  and  contradiction 
to  which  the  figurative  view  of  this  prophecy  has  given  rise,  will  never  drive  me 
into  the  literal ;  nor  is  :  fitted  to  have  that  effect  upon  any  one  who  looks  to  Um 
principles  involved  in     e  question. 


CHAPTER  V, 

MO    MILLENNIAL    MIXTURE    OP    FAITH    AND    SIGHT. 

We  have  seen  that  the  pre-millennial  theory  begets  some 
startling  expectations.  But  I  doubt  whether  any  of  them 
will  surprise  the  simple  reader  of  his  Bible  more  than  what 
is  put  forth  upon  the  vision  of  Christ  in  glory  by  mortal 
men  during  the  millennium.  That  I  may  not  be  charged 
with  misrepresenting  their  sentiments,  I  will  give  them  in 
their  own  words,  and  I  shall  quote  from  a  variety  of 
authors,  that  no  one  may  say  I  palm  upon  them  as  a  body 
the  peculiar  opinions  of  one  or  two  individuals. 

"  In  the  millennial  state,"  says  Mr.  Brooks,  "  there  will  be  thr 
OPEN  VISION  OP  Christ."  *  "  It  will  be  a  dispensation  in  which 
the  saints  fin  the  flesh]  will  continually  have  personal  access 
TO  CHRisT."f    "  Some  are  of  opinion  that  the  saints  will  not  be 

♦  Abdiel's  Essays:  Investigator,  vol.  ii.  p.  271. 

t  Eleni.  of  Proph.  Interp.  p.  W\. 

The  Duke  of  Manchester  has  here  charged  me  with  what  I  feel  it  nw 
cessary,  once  for  all,  to  repel.  If  there  is  one  thing  which  I  have  striven 
to  avoid,  it  is  putting  into  the  mouths  of  my  opponents  what  they  do 
not  believe,  and  have  not  said.  To  preclude  any  such  charge,  I  have  al- 
lowed them  invariably  to  speak  for  themselves,  as  the  large  portion  of 
my  volume  occupied  by  such  extracts  (too  large  many  will  think)  will 
bear  me  witness.  In  some  cases,  however,  to  make  the  extracts  intelli- 
gible to  readers  not  very  familiar  with  the  distinctions  to  which  this 
question  has  given  rise,  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  insert  in  brackets  a 
Blight  explanation,  for  the  accuracy  of  which  I  am  of  course  responsibleii 


MR.    BKOOK& MR.    JiLLIOTT.  381 

mingled  at  all  with  men  in  the  flesh,  in  the  resurrection;  or,  at 
least,  that  they  will  only  be  occasionally  manifested  to  them. 
I  know  of  no  decided  Scripture  authority  for  the  opinion ;  whilst 
yet  I  confess,  that,  judging  by  the  reason  of  the  thing,  there  appears 
some  degree  of  plausibility  in  it.  In  the  meanwhile  it  is  evident 
that  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  are  again  to  dwell  in  the  re- 
newed earth  [during  the  millennium] ;  and  as  they  will  be  of  the 
resurrection,  there  seems  no  just  reason  why  the  rest  of  those 
who  sleep  in  Jesus  should  not  dwell  on  it  likewise.  ...  I  con- 
clude, therefore,  that  the  resurrection-saints  will  undoubtedly 
dwell  on  earth,  and  '  have  power  over  the  nations,'  though  they 
will  probably  be  nearer  to  God,  and  continually  behold  his  glory, 
in  a  manner  that  will  not  be  enjoyed  to  the  same  extent  by  men  of 
flesh  and  blood.'"  * 

"  There  must,"  says  Mr.  Elliott,  "  be  supposed,  I  conceive,  a 
most  intimate  connexion  of  the  earthly  Jerusalem  with  the 
heavenly ;  the  earthly  Jerusalem  being  that  on,  or  over  which 
the  glory  of  the  new  Jerusalem  is  to  rest;  like  as  Jehovah's 
pillar  of  fire  on  the  tabernacle  in  the  wilderness,  or  the  more 
awful  glory  on  the  top  of  Sinai.  Here,  I  say,  it  would  seem  that 
there  is  to  be  the  meeting  point  of  earth  and  heaven;  and  that 


In  reference  to  these,  his  Grace  says,  "  Mr.  Brown,  with  the  intention 
of  making  the  sense  more  clear,  has  sometimes  increased  the  confusioi« 
by  adding  words  of  his  own  to  the  quotations  from  others.  See,  for  ex- 
ample, the  quotation  from  Mr.  Brooks  on  this  veiy  subject,"  [the  one 
given  in  the  text  above.]  Now,  I  will  stake  my  whole  credit  upon  the 
accuracy  of  that  extract,  with  three  words  of  explanation  in  brackets. 
If  Mr.  Brooks  him  self  shall  say  that  I  have  misrepresented  or  "confused" 
his  meaning — if  he  shall  say  that  by  "  the  saints  "  who  are  "  continually 
to  have  personal  intercourse  with  Christ,"  he  did  not  mean  '•  saints  m 
the  flesh,"  but  the  glorified  saints,  I  will  submit  to  his  Grace's  correc- 
tion. But  as  the  whole  passage,  to  those  who  read  it  all,  proclaims  its 
own  meaning  beyond  possible  misapprehension,  I  submit  whether  it  was 
quite  right  in  his  Grace  to  throw  out  such  a  charge.  I  could  wish,  in- 
deed, that  some  of  my  critics  had  been  as  jealous  of  putting  words  into 
my  mouth  as  I  have  been  in  their  case.  I  do  not  apply  this  remark, 
however,  to  the  Duke  of  Manchester,  whose  references  to  my  statements 
— though  sometimes  brought  together  in  rather  strange  and  almost  ludi- 
crous connexions — seem  unexceptionably  accurate. 
♦  Elem.  of  Proph.  In'erp.  p.  33. 


MR.    LORD MR.    BIRKS. 

same  conjunction  to  be  visiBLY  manifested  of  the  nllimate 
blessedness  of  the  spiiitual  [then  in  glory  j  and  of  the  nalwiai 
seed  of  Abraham  [continuing  a  nation  in  the  flesh]  :  a  conjunction 
and  blending  together  of  the  two  such,  that  it  is  often  difficult  if  not 
impossible  to  discern  in  prophecy  where  the  one  ends  and  the  othei 
begins."  * 

"  The  gates,"  says  Mr.  Lord  [of  the  New  Jerusalem]  "  symbo- 
lize the  access  to  the  glarijied  which  t/ie  nations  are  to  enjoy.  That 
they  [the  gates]  are  distributed  equally  to  the  several  sides,  in- 
dicates that  they  are  to  be  accessible  alike  to  the  nations  wher- 
ever they  may  reside ;  that  there  is  to  be  no  night  there,  that 
they  [the  nations  in  the  flesh]  are  never  to  be  without  the 
VISIBLE  PRESENCE  OF  GoD ;  that  its  gatcs  are  never  shut,  that  the 

nations  are  to  enjoy  uninterrvpted  access  to  the  glorified In  the 

temple  in  Jerusalem,  the  mercy-seat — the  symbol  of  the  throne 
of  God  in  the  scene  of  the  visible  displays  of  his  presence — was 
in  the  holy  of  holies,  wholly  withdrawn  from  the  sight  of  the  worship- 
pers, and  beheld  only  by  the  high-priest  once  a  year.  That  there 
is  nx)  temple  in  the  New  Jerusalem,  denotes  therefore  that  the 
presence  of  the  Redeemer  is  to  be  visible  to  the  worshippers  at 
LARGE — not,  as  under  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  veiled  from  their 
Bight."  t 

"  The  manhood,"  says  Mr.  Birks,  "  the  mystic  heel  of  Emmanuel, 
which  here  below,  on  the  cross,  was  bruised  by  the  malice  of 
Satan — shall  be  visibly  revealed  here  on  earth  in  the  beauty 
OF  THE  resurrection,  shall  be  the  source  of  a  world's  blessed- 
ness, and  the  centre  of  its  holy  adoration,":}:  "  The  nations  who 
walk  in  the  light  of  the  New  Jerusalem  must  imply  others  who 
are  distinct  from  its  citizens,  and  who  walk  in  the  light  that  beams 

forth  from  that  city  of  God The  proi)het  adds,  further,  that 

the  gates  of  it  shall  not  be  shut  at  all  by  day,  for  there  shall  be 
no  night  there.  This  must  surely  refer  to  some  who  are  not 
dwellers  in  the  city,  but  for  whara  a  free  access  is  thus  provided.  .  .  . 
The  nations  here  mentioned  ('  They  shall  bring  the  glory  and 
honour  of  the  nations  into  it'),  are  evidently  distinct  from  the 

*  Hor.  Apoc.  ut  supra,  Iv.  240. 

t  Expos,  of  Apoc.  p.  531. 

J  Lent  Lect.  for  1843,  ut  supra,  pp.  208,  209. 


DR.  M*NEILE MR.  BICKERSTETH MR.  MAITLAND.    383 

bride  of  the  Lamb,  or  from  the  mystical  city,  within  whose  gates 
they  will  bring  their  glory  and  honour."  * 

'•All"  [mankind],  says  Dr.  M Neile,  "shall  go  to  Jerusalem,  to 
the  feast  of  tabernacles,  and  see  [with  eyes  of  flesh]  the  Lord 
OP  Hosts  manifested  in  the  human  nature  of  Jesus  reigning  in 
Mount  Zion."  -f 

"  There  does,"  says  Mr.  Bickersteth,  "  appear  to  the  author  con- 
siderable evidence  that  the  Lord  of  glory  will  so  dwell  on  earth  as  to 
be  visible  in  his  glory,  in  a  manner,  however,  and  to  an  extent,  that 
we  cannot  adequately  realise  or  comprehend.  .  .  .  The  expres- 
sions (Luke  i.  32  ;  Ps.  cxxxii.  14  ;  Ezek.  xliii.  7)  are  such  as  to  imply 
bodily  and  visible  presence."  ^ 

"  To  sum  up  all  in  one  word,"  says  Mr.  Maitland  of  Brighton, 
"  the  coming  dispensation  will  not,  I  contend,  be  a  dispensation  of 
faith,  in  the  present  acceptation  of  the  term.  It  vnll  be  of  grace, 
but  not  of  faith.  The  Jew  will  not  live  upon  promises,  but  hold 
the  actual  blessing  in  his  hand.  In  that  day  they  will  walk  by 
sight.  Thus,  there  will  be  a  radical  difference  between  ikcir  stole  and 
ours.  Now,  our  ichvle  economy  is  purely  an  economy  of  faith,  and  all 
that  is  written  in  our  Scriptures  is  adapted  to  the  furtherance  of  a 
life  of  faith.  '  We  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight.'  But  it  is  said,  con- 
cerning that  day,  '  when  the  Lord  shall  bring  again  Zion,'  that  then 
*  they  shall  see  eye  to  eye.^  It  shall  not  be  faith,  bat  eye-sight  with  them — 
a  visible  glory  which  shall  take  up  Us  abode  on  earth."  (Isa  xxiv.  26 ; 
Ezek.  xliii.  2-5,)^ 

On  these  strange  representations  of  the  millennial  state, 
it  will  not  be  necessary  to  say  much.  Truly,  as  Mr.  Mait- 
land says,  "  there  will  be  a  radical  difference  between  their 
state  and  ours."  It  is  not  our  Christianity  at  all.  It  puts 
not  only  the  New  Testament  out  of  date,  but  the  religion 
of  mortal  men  which  it  describes.  Every  where  in  Scrip 
ture,  faith  and  sight,  grace  and  glory,  are  contrasted  ;  and 


*  Four  Proph.  Emp.  ut  supra,  p.  309. 
t  Serm.  on  Sec,  Adv.  ut  supra,  p.  1 16. 
t  Guide,  ut  supra,  pp.  275,  276. 

8  Nine  Discourses  on  the  Parable  of  the  Ten  Virgins,  note,  p.  178. 
By  the  Rev.  C.  D.  Maitland.    Second  edition,  1831. 


384  FAITH    AND    SIGHT GRACE    AND    GLORY. 

the  one  is  represented  as  the  consummation,  and  oonse* 
quentlv"  as  the  termination  of  the  other.  Here,  however, 
they  are  brought  together,  not  as  two  coexistent  and  con- 
temporaneous, but  perfectly  distinct  and  separated,  states — 
that  is  at  least  intelligible — but  as  in  open  and  visible 
commanication  with  each  other ;  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  walking  in  celestial  light,  and  their  kings  bringing 
to  the  heavenly  city — nay,  into  it — their  miserable  '•  glory 
and  honour  ;"  "  holding  intercourse"  with  the  glorified  ; 
nay,  "  having  continual  personal  access"  to  the  very  Object 
of  all  saving  faith,  and  seeing  his  human  nature  reigning 
in  Mount  Zion ;  "  walking  not  by  faith  but  by  sight ; 
seeing  literally  eye  to  eye  ;  a  visible  glory  taking  up  its 
abode  on  earth." 

What  a  mongrel  state  of  things  is  this !  What  an  ab- 
horred mixture  of  things  totally  inconsistent  with  each 
other  !  It  will  not  do  here  to  refer,  as  several  do,  to.  the 
angelic  visits  with  which  individuals  under  the  Old  Tes- 
tament were  occasionally  favoured ;  to  the  Saviour's  trans- 
figuration, and  the  appearance  of  Moses  and  Elias  in  glory 
to  the  three  disciples  on  the  holy  mount ;  to  the  many 
bodies  of  sleeping  saints  which  arose  ;  and  after  Christ's  re- 
surrection went  into  the  holy  city,  and  appeared  unto 
many ;  and  to  Christ  himself  eating  and  drinking  with  his 
disciples  after  his  resurrection.  He  that  does  not  see  the 
diiference  between  the  two  cases — between  such  brief, 
rare,  and  exceedingly  ycbrtial  glimpses  of  the  world  of 
glory  vouchsafed  to  a  few,  and  a  thousand  years^  constant 
personal  access  to  the  glorified  Saviour,  and  open  vision  of 
the  new  Jerusalem  hi  all  its  effulgence — he  that  sees  no 
difference  between  these  two  cases,  or  so  little  that  the 
truth  of  the  one  perfectly  reconciles  him  to  the  belief  of 
the  other — is  not  likely  to  be  convinced  by  any  thing  I 
could  say  on  the  subject.     Ordinary  readers  of  the  Bible, 


INCONGRUITY  OF  THIS,  AS  EXPRESSED  BY  PERR"S.    385 

however,  will  probably  be  of  opinion,  that  if  the  millennial 
state  be  one  of  sight  it  is  no  more  of  faith^  otherwise  sight 
is  no  more  sight — Mr.  Maitland,  indeed,  seems  to  go  the 
whole  length  of  that  conclusion — and  if  it  be  of  grace,  it  is 
no  more  of  glory ^  otherwise  grace  is  no  more  grace.  And 
if  some  should  be  disposed  to  waive  this  consideration,  and 
say,  that  any  thing  looking  like  probable  Scripture  evi- 
dence in  favour  of  such  mixture  of  faith  and  sight  would 
go  a  great  way  with  them,  in  spite  of  all  their  ideas  to  the 
contrary,  he  would  find  himself  miserably  put  off  on  re- 
ferring to  their  texts.  More  slender  evidence,  to  use  no 
stronger  term,  never  was  advanced  in  favour  of  a  view  of 
things  which  nothing  but  the  most  explicit  testimony  could 
render  credible. 

Admirable  here  are  the  words  of  Joseph  Perry,  whose 
(Bweet  humility  in  referring  to  his  brother  pre-millennialists, 
who  held  the  very  views  expressed  in  the  foregoing  ex- 
tracts, will  not  give  him  a  lower  place  in  the  estimation  of 
the  Christian  reader  : — 

"  Again,"  says  he,  "  here  is  another  thing  looks  very  incon- 
sistent, for  converting  work  to  go  forward  in  this  perfect  state ; 
and  that  is,  for  the  saints  to  live  awl  converse  together,  while  some  are 
in  a  perfect,  and  others  in  an  imperfect  condition.  For  if  the  great 
apostle  John,  so  much  endued  with  the  Spirit  of  God  as  he  was, 
could  not  bear  the  visioTuiry  sight  of  Christ  in  the  first  of  Reve- 
lations, but  fell  down  as  one  dead  at  his  feet ;  how  is  it  possible, 
tnen,  that  any  of  the  saints  should  behold  tke  glory  of  Christ's  Per- 
son 'i/fi  that  day, — joho  will  ten  thousand  times  exceed  the  glory  of  all 
created  beings,  whilst  they  are  unglorified;  and  therefore  this  cannot  be 
to,  jor  how  can  mortal  and  immortal,  glorified  and  unglorified,  perfect 
and  imperfect,  persons  converse  together?  This  seems  to  me  to  be 
impossible,  I  know  I  am  a  poor,  weak,  nothing  creature,  and 
not  worthy  to  carry  some  of  these  men's  books ;  yet  I  cannot  in 
i\xU  matter  but  think  that  my  dear  brethren  must  be  mistaken 
coucerning  these  things,  and  that  the  mistake  lies  in  holdino 
2k 


386  MR.    H.    BONAR THE    PAVILION    CLOUD. 

THE    GRACIOUS    AND    GLORIOUS    ChURCH    TO    BE    TOGETHER    AT    ONE    AND 

THE  SAME  TIME,  which  I  cannot  see  uor  believe  that  it  will:  but 
that  the  gracious  Church  will  be  first,  upon  the  wonderful  pour- 
ing out  of  the  Spirit,  and  that  the  glorious  Church  will  not  be 
till  after  Christ's  reign  by  his  Spirit  in  the  saints  hath  been 
fulfilled,  and  that  then,  upon  Christ's  personal  coming  from 
heaven  with  all  the  saints,  when  his  wife,  the  Bride,  or  whole 
elect,  shall  be  ready,  by  having  all  of  them  the  garments  or 
robes  of  glory  and  immortality  on,  will  the  glorious  Church  com- 
mence, and  appear  visible  in  the  personal  reign  and  kingdom  of 
Christ."* 

Mr.  H.  Bonar  leaves  this  part  of  our  subject  un- 
touched, so  far  as  I  have  observed ;  unless  the  follow- 
ing paragraph  be  considered  as  his  reply  to  what  I  have 
said : — 

"  We  do  not  hold  that  Christ  and  his  risen  saints  are  to  dwell 
in  actual  houses  of  lime  and  stone,  such  as  we  dwell  in.f  Their 
dwelling  is  in  the  pavilion  cloud,  or  residence  provided  for  them 
in  the  New  Jerusalem,  which  cometh  down  out  of  heaven  from 
God,  and  which  rests  over  the  earth  just  as  the  pillar  of  cloud 
did  of  old.  From  that,  as  the  palace  of  the  king  in  which  they 
abide,  they  go  forth  continually,  as  vice-royal  potentates,  to 
rule  the  nations  of  the  earti'.  Their  position,  office,  and  pro- 
cedure, will  be  something  similar  to  angels  in  the  present 
age,  who  are  ministering  spirits  sent  forth  to  minister  to  them 
who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation.  Where  is  the  degradation 
here"?     Where  is  the   'abhorred  mixture'  of  which  Mr.  Brown 


I  am  afraid  this  statement  of  what  "  we  hold"  will 
scarcely  be  accepted  by  those,  at  least,  who  penned  the  fore- 
going extracts — if  I  understand  it  aright.     If  "  Christ  and 


♦  Glory  of  Christ's  Visible  Kingdom  in  this  World,  pp.  227,  228. 
t  I  was  not  aware  that  any  had  charged  them  with  coming  quite 
low  as  this. 
t  Coming,  4&c.,  pp.  59,  60. 


EITHER    WAY    ALIKE    OBJECTIONABLE.  387 

his  risen  saints"  are  tc  be  shrouded  up  in  this  ^^  pavilion 
cloud'^  from  the  view"  of  the  mortal  inhabitants  of  the  earth, 
his  brethren,  in  these  extracts,  have  very  much  misrepre- 
sented the  pre-millennial  expectation.  The  Duke  of 
Manchester  compares  the  view  that  men  in  the  flesh 
are  t  ^  have  of  our  Lord,  to  that  which  the  disciples  had  of 
him  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  and  which  he  says  has  been 
happily  expressed,  as  '■'•  faith  wrapped  up  in  sighty*  I  am 
not  sure  that  I  comprehend  this  ;  but  one  thing  is  clear 
— it  does  not  mean  the  "  pavilion  cloud."  A  brother 
who  has  contributed  some  able  papers  to  the  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Prophecy^  said  lately  to  myself  that  he  be- 
lieved Christ  would  be  as  visible  to  men  in  the  flesh 
as  I  was  to  him,  or  as  the  Saviour  himself  was  to  the  dis- 
ciples in  the  days  of  his  flesh  ;  nor  did  he  see  where  the 
,  difl&culty  lay. 

A  word,  now,  to  both  at  once.  "  He  shall  come  (we 
are  told)  in  his  own  glory,  and  in  the  glory  of  the 
Father  and  of  the  holy  angels."  (Luke  ix.  26.)  Who 
will  venture  to  say  that  this  will  not  be  a  glory  visible  to 
all  men?  If  it  be,  what  room  is  there  for  any  rational 
comparison  between  such  a  glorious  display,  and  that  to 
which  the  disciples  were  accustomed  in  the  days  of  his 
flesh?  But  if  Christ  is  not  to  be  visible  to  men  in  the 
flesh,  we  must  suppose  him  first  to  shine  forth  before 
them,  when  he  comes  in  all  his  bright  effulgence,  and 
then  to  shut  himself  in  within  the  "  pavilion  cloud,"  and 
be  seen  of  them  no  more  in  their  fleshly  state.  And 
what  vestige  of  authority  is  there  for  that?  None  what- 
ever. 

I  might  ask,  further,  if  Christ  is  to  be  out  of  sight  of 
those  who  people  the  earth  during  the  millennium,  what 

*  Finished  Mystery,  p.  338. 


388    VISIBLE   KINGDOM  WITH   CHRIST  OUT  OF  SIGHT. 

is  the  meaning  of  the  Personal  Reign,  and  the  visible  king- 
dom on  the  earth  ?  What  will  it  matter  to  its  mortal  in- 
habitants, if  their  King  is  invisible  to  them,  whether  he 
hover  immediatdy  over  the  earth,  or  remain  where  he  now 
is  ?  Thus,  shape  this  theory  how  w€  will,  it  seems  equally 
unmanageable. 


CHAPTER  Vt. 


WAY   OP   SALVATION   NO   LESS   NARROW    DURING   THE    MILLEN 
NIUM  THAN    NOW. 

Very  loose  is  the  laDguage  indulged  in  upon  this  point,— 
language  which,  though  repudiated  by  some,  is  nevertheless 
the  prevailing  strain  in  the  contrasts  which  are  drawn  be- 
tween the  present  and  the  expected  millennial  dispensation. 

"  Concerning  the  numlier  of  true  believers  under  this  dispensa- 
tion," says  Dr.  MNeile,  "  we  read,  '  Many  are  called,  but  few 
are  chosen.  Enter  ye  in  at  the  strait  gate,  for  wide  is  the  gate 
and  broad  is  the  way  that  leadeth  to  destruction,  and  many 
there  be  which  go  in  thereat  ;  because  strait  is  the  gate  and  nar- 
row is  the  way  which  leadeth  unto  life,  and  feio  tliere  be  that  find  it. 
Many  will  say  to  me  in  that  day.  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  pro- 
phesied in  thy  name,  &c.  ;  and  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I 
never  knew  you,  depart  from  me  ye  that  work  iniquity.'  Con- 
cerning the  cho.racter  of  true  believers,  we  read,  '  Love  not  the 
world,  neither  the  things  of  the  world.  If  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him.  The  friendship  of 
the  world  is  enmity  with  God  ;  whosoever,  therefore,  will  be  a 
friend  of  the  world,  is  the  enemy  of  God.  Therefore  come  out 
from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord.'  These 
passages  of  Scripture  avowedly  belong  to  this  dispensation.  They 
have  Applied  in  every  age,  and  do  still  apply  to  the  true  dis- 
ciples of  the  Lord  Jesus :  But  if  the  world  become  Christian,  the 
world  will  no  longer  persecute  Christians.  If  all  the  families  of 
the  earth  be  blessed  with  eternal  life,  the  way  of  life  will  be 
NO  LONGER  NARROW.  If  thc  \ourld  bccomc  Christian,  then  Chris- 
2k3 


390   IR.  m'nEILE,  MR.  MAITLAND,  MR.  WOOD,  MR.  BROOKS. 

tians  cannot  separate  from  the  world.  It  is  obvious,  that  in  the 
passage  from  our  present  state  to  a  state  of  universal  holiness^ 
these   characteristic  sayings  of   the  New  Testament  must  cease 

rO  HAVE  ANY"  APPLICATION,  AND  BECOME  OBSOLETE,  NOT  TO  SAY 
FALSE,"* 

"  The  least  consideration,"  says  Mr.  Maitland,  in  the  note  al- 
ready quoted,  "  will  serve  to  show  that  the  New  Testament 
supposed  a  suffering  kingdom,  and  that  its  encouragements,  exhor- 
tations, warning  t^  were  Addressed  to  a  people  confilcting  with,  the 
world,  the  jlesh,  and  the  devil.  The  Master,  as  he  delivered  it, 
said,  '  I  am  come  to  send  fire  on  earth,  not  peace,  but  a  sword ;' 
and  on  this  supposition  is  the  whole  revelation  founded.  Now, 
if  we  turn  to  the  promises  of  God  concerning  the  state  of  the 
world,  affer  his  ancient  people  shall  have  been  brought  in  and 
made  the  light  of  the  nations  (as  given  in  Isa.  xi.  xxv,  Ix.  and 
elsewhere),  and  carry  the  exhortations  and  warnings  of  our  dispensa- 
tion to  a  people  conditioned  as  they  shall  be,  we  shall  at  once 
see  h&iv  ill  adapted  they  would  be  to  their  times  and  circum- 
stances, Christ  says  to  his  Gospel-church  in  every  line,  if  not 
in  word  yet  in  spirit,  '  Watch  and  pray,  lest  ye  enter  into  tempta- 
tion :  Behold  I  come  as  a  thief, — a  snare :  be  ye  therefore  like 
servants  which  wait  for  their  Lord.'  Take  this  thought  with 
you  to  the  sixtieth  of  Isaiah,  and  mark  the  incongruity.  If  such 
precepts  as  these  were  still  needed,  the  condition  there  described 
could  not  exist.  Holy  fear  and  jealousy,  from  the  sense  of  sur- 
rounding dangers,  would  effectually  check  the  tide  which  we  see 
flowing  there.  Their  condition  is  evidently  one  not  militant  but 
triumphant." 

"  When,"  says  Mr.  Wood,  "  the  nations  say,  '  Come  and  let  us  go 
up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord,'  shall  it  be  true,  then,  that  '  strait  is  the 
gate  and  narrow  is  the  way  that  leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there  be 
that  find  it  V  "f    Once  more, 

"  Surely,"  says  Mr.  Brooks,  "  the  kingdom  will  be  already 
come,  when  all  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  have  become  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ.  With  what  propriety, 
then,  could  Tnen  any  longer  be  exhorted  to  '  seek '  and  to  '  lay  up  trea* 


*  Lect,  on  the  Jews,  ut  supra,  pp.  78-80. 
1  Affirmative  Answer,  p.  32. 


REMARKS MILLENNIAL    REST.  391 

«Mr,'  and  '  hope  for '  that  which  they  will  already  be  in  possession 

o/r* 

The  confusion  of  thought  which  all  these  passages  mani- 
fest,  is  such  as  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  difficulty  of 
defining  a  state  which  is  made  up  of  the  most  incongruous 
elements.     Let  us  try  to  bring  order  out  of  it. 

1.  When  the  world  ceases  to  persecute  Christians,  it  will 
only  be  that  on  a  great  scale,  which  on  a  small  one  has 
been  seen  hundreds  of  times  in  the  past  history  of  the 
Church,  and,  on  a  scale  smaller  still,  occurs  in  the  domes- 
tic circle  every  day.  "  The7i  had  the  churches  rest"  says 
the  historian  of  the  Acts,  after  Saul  of  Tarsus  had  been 
transformed  out  of  a  bloody  persecutor  into  a  glowing 
Christian,  and,  ''  walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  in 
the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  were  multiplied."  (Acts 
ix.  31.)  Such  rest,  and  such  blessed  consequences  of  it, 
have  been  more  or  less  experienced  in  the  Church  from  age 
to  age  since  that  time.  A?id  what  will  the  millennium  be 
' — in  one  blessed  feature  of  it — but  this  same  rest^  and 
these  same  consequences  of  it.  over  the  whole  earth  1  But 
what  in  this  ease  (say  our  friends)  becomes  of  such  pas- 
sages as  these,  "  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation  ;" 
"  I  am  not  come  to  send  peace  on  earth,  but  a  sword ;" 
"  The  father  shall  be  divided  against  the  son,  and  the  son 
against  the  father,"  &c.  ?  Why,  just  what  becomes  of 
/.hem  when  "  one  of  a  fiamily,"  after  having  been  the  object 
of  incessant  and  virulent  opposition  from  an  ungodly 
household,  is  blessed  to  the  gaining  of  every  one  of  them — 
when  "those  who  spake  against  him  as  an  evil-doer,  do, 
by  his  good  works  which  they  behold,  glorify  God  in  the 
day  of  visitation."  Of  course  the  father  is  not  now  "  divided 
against  the  son,"  &c.  They  are  "  all  of  one  mind  ;  they 
live  in  peace,  and  the  God  of  love  and  peace  is  with  them." 

*  Abdiel's  Essays,  vX  supra. 


STRAIT    GATE — NARROW    WAY. 

There  is  manifestly  no  difference  at  all  between  this  case 
and  that  which  we  expect  during  the  millennium  over  the 
whole  earth.  The  extent  is  nothing.  The  principle  is  the 
only  thing  of  coL^'equence,  and  who  does  not  see  that  that 
is  the  same  in  both  cases  ?  Yet  you  build  out  of  this  an 
argument  for  a  new  dispensation !  (Compare  Isa.  xi.  9  ; 
ii.  3,  4;  xxxii.  15-i8.) 

2.  The  argument  for  an  entirely  new  state  of  things  during 
the  millennium,  from  the  words,  "  Strait  is  the  gate  and 
narrow  is  the  way  that  leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there  be 
that  find  it,"  while  it  resembles  the  former  one  in  shallow- 
ness, grates  more  upon  the  ear,  and  is  more  vicious  in  its 
tendency.  It  proceeds  on  a  misapprehension  of  the  real 
point  of  our  Lord's  statement,  and  unduly  magnifies  what 
is  the  least  important  part  of  it.  What  makes  "  the 
narrow  way"  to  be  narrow,  is  not  that  "  few  find  it,"  but 
it  is  becavrse  of  its  narrowness  that  it  is  found  by  few.  It 
is  not  because  "  many  there  be  that  go  in  thereat,"  that 
the  way  they  take  is  called  "  the  broad  way,"  but  it  is  be- 
cause of  its  breadth  that  so  many  frequent  it.  Tke  one  way 
means  just  the  course  which  pleases  the  flesh,  is  congenial 
to  the  carnal  taste  of  every  natural  man,  and  consists  in 
following  the  bent  of  corrupt  nature  ;  therefore  it  is  called 
"  broad,^^ — easily  trodden,  as  its  "  gate"  is  said  to  be  "  wide" 
— easily  got  in  at.  The  other  way  means  just  the  opposite 
of  this — resistance  to  all  the  desires  of  the  natural  man,  the 
mortification  of  the  flesh,  obedience  to  the  promptings  of 
the  opposite  principle — the  new,  spiritual,  heaven-born 
nature.  If  this  be  correct,  it  follows  not  only  that  men 
during  the  millennium,  just  as  much  as  now,  will  naturally 
prefer  the  "  broad"  to  the  "  narrow"  way,  if  they  be  born 
in  sin  as  we  are,  but  that,  left  to  themselves,  every  one  in 
all  time  will  walk  in  the  former,  and  none  at  all  in  the 
latter :  that  the  wonder  is,  not  that  "  few,"  but  that  any 


FEW    FIND    IT.  393 

find  it,  and  that  these  feiv  find  it  purely  in  virtue  of  a  super- 
natural principle,  emancipating  them  from  the  "  earthly^ 
sensual,  devilish"  desires  to  which,  in  common  with  all 
other  men,  they  are  naturally  in  bondage.  Now,  as  this 
is  the  secret  of  ani/  man's  finding  the  narrow  way,  so  is  it 
the  secret  of  every  man's  finding  it  who  is  ever  conducted 
to  "  life"  upon  it.  What,  then,  is  the  difference  between 
the  present  and  the  millennial  state,  in  respect  of  this  way  ? 
Just  the  difference  between  grace  plucking  more  brands  out  of 
the  fire  than  now — between  a  less  and  a  greater  number  of 
converted  and  holy  perso?is.     That  is  all. 

It  is  said,  The  way  will  no  longer  be  narrow,  when, 
instead  of  few,  maiiy  find  it  1  That  is  to  make  its  narrow- 
ness  to  arise  from  its  unfrcquentedness.  By  so  saying,  you 
do  something  far  worse  than  make  the  cause  the  effect,  and 
the  effect  the  cause ;  you  put  the  real  narrowness  of  the 
one  way  and  breadth  of  the  other  out  of  sight  altogether, 
and  represent  the  millennial  state  as  one  in  which  men  will 
not  find  the  way  of  life  to  be  what  it  is  to  us — a  state  in 
which  they  will  not  have  to  struggle  against  the  corrupt 
tendencies  of  the  natural  man — a  state  in  which  the  cor- 
ruption of  nature  either  will  not  exist  at  all,  or  will  not 
have  those  characteristics  which  make  it  what  it  is,  and 
which  have  been  always  the  same  since  the  fall.  If  this  is 
not  what  you  mean,  your  argument  is  inept,  and  your  lan- 
guage fitted  only  to  deceive. 

But  surely  it  will  not  then  be  said,  "  Few  there  be  thai 
find  it,"  and  if  not,  will  not  this  statement  be  then  inappli- 
cable ?  The  answer,  if  answer  the  question  needs  or  merits, 
has  been  furnished  already.  "  The  father  is"  no  longer 
"  divided  against  the  son,"  when  the  father  joins  the  son 
in  the  bonds  of  the  Gospel.  When  the  sword  of  persecu- 
tion is  sheathed  in  any  land,  the  Saviour's  words,  "  I  am 
not  come  to  send  peace  on  aarth,  but  a   sword,"    before 


394  LUST  OF  FLESH  AND  EYE,  A.ND  PRIDE  OF  LIFE— 

realised  there,  cease  of  course  to  be  descriptive  of  the  actual 
state  of  things  in  that  land.  In  these  and  similar  state- 
ments of  Scripture,  it  is  the  principle  of  eternal  hostility, 
between  him  that  is  born  after  the  flesh  and  him  that  is 
born  after  the  Spirit,  which  is  to  be  seized  upon.  In  this 
originates  all  the  actual  opposition  to  the  cause  of  Christ 
and  the  members  of  his  body  which  is  displayed.  It  varies, 
of  course,  in  the  forms  which  it  takes,  in  the  places  where  it 
occurs,  and  in  the  extent  to  which  it  is  permitted  to  go : 
sometimes  the  worse  triumphs  over  the  better,  and  puts  it 
down  ;  at  other  times  it  is  the  reverse ;  and  the  time  is 
coming  when  those  that  are  born  after  the  flesh  shall  be 
the  tail  and  not  the  head,  all  the  world  over.  But  who 
would  ever  speak  of  such  statements  as  the  above  being 
superseded,  either  now — wherever  true  religion  triumphs,  in 
fiimilies,  cities,  or  countries — or  hereafter  over  the  whole 
earth  ?  So  with  the  "  few"  that  now  find  the  narrow  way, 
compared  with  what  will  be  witnessed  during  the  millen- 
nium. As  the  way  will  be  the  same  then — and  narrow 
then  in  the  same  sense  and  for  precisely  the  same  reasons 
as  now — so  it  will  be  nothing  else  than  grace  triumphing  then 
over  nature  in  more  persons,  and  to  a  greater  extent^  than  now. 
3.  "If  the  world,"  says  Dr  M-Neile,  "become  Chris- 
tian, then  Christians  cannot  separate  from  the  world." 
Is  it  possible  that  such  a  fallacy  should  stumble  any  one 
acquainted  with  Scripture  language  ?  What  definition  of 
that  "u'orZ-^"  from  which  Christians  are  commanded  to 
separate,  is  given  in  the  very  passage  which  he  quotes  ? 
"  Love  not  the  world,"  says  the  beloved  disciple,  "  neither 
thf  things  that  a,re  in  the  world.     For  all  that  is  in  the 

WOrldj    THE     LUST     OF     THE     FLESH,    AND     THE     LUST    OF    THE 

EYE,  AND  THE  PRIDE  OF  LIFE,  is  not  of  the  Father,  bid 
is  of  the  worldV  Will  none  of  these  exist  during  the 
millennium,    or    require   to   Ve   separated    from  ?      Take 


w:  )5 

riches. — one  of  "the  things  (now)  in  the  world,"  and  the 
love  of  which  must  be  in  this  passage  forbidden,  seeing  it 
is  said  to  be  "the  root  of  all  evil."  Will  this  not  be  "  in 
the  world  "  during  the  millennium  ?  or  will  money  be  any 
thing  else  then  than  what  it  is  now,  or  will  the  "  love  of 
money  "  be  more  lawful  1  "  The  lust  of  the  flesh" — 
will  that  be  extinct  during  the  millennium,  or  may  it  be 
then  cherished?  "  The  lust  of  the  eyes"— will  that 
also  be  gone  ?  And  "  the  pride  of  life  "  1  Or  will  they 
be  any  thing  else  then  than  now?  The  question,  it  will 
be  observed,  is  not.  Will  men  then  rise  superior  to  those 
things  ?  but,  Will  they  have  them  to  resist  ?  Dr. 
M'Neile's  argument,  if  good  for  any  thing,  is  this,  that 
men  during  the  millennium  will  not  need  to  be  warned 
against  the  love  of  the  world — not  because  they  will  have 
so  much  of  the  Spirit  that  the  world  will  make  no  impres- 
sion upon  them,  though  even  that  were  no  reason  why 
they  should  never  be  warned — but  because  there  will  then 
be  no  world  to  love — no  lust  of  the  flesh,  lust  of  the  eyes, 
and  pride  of  life,  to  require  warnings  against.  And  when 
we  have  got  this  length  we  are  still  not  far  enough ;  for 
unless  it  will  then  be  lawful  to  "  love"  the  creature  more 
than  the  Creator,  who  is  blessed  for  ever,  since  '  the  crea- 
ture' will  exist  during  the  millennium,  and  quite  as  at- 
tractive, I  should  suppose,  as  ever  it  has  been  since  the 
fall,  there  will  be  the  very  same  reason  then  as  now  for 
the  apostle's  counsel,  "  Love  not  the  world,  neither  the 
things  that  are  in  the  world." 

The  reader  will  now  know  what  to  gather  from  Mr. 
Brooks'  question,  "  With  what  propriety  could  men  any 
longer  be  exhorted  to  '  seek,'  and  to  '  lay  up  treasure,'  and 
to  '  hope  for '  that  which  they  will  be  in  possession  of  ? " 
As  this  is  spoken  of  the  millennial  condition  of  mortal 
men,  it  e".ther  means  that  they  will,  in  the  state  of  mor- 


306  SUMMARY. 

tality,  be  in  possession  of  heaven,  and  heaven's  treasures, 
so  as  no  longer  to  need  hoping  for  them,  as  poor  mortal 
men  now  liave,  who,  with  all  "  the  first-fraits  of  the 
Spirit "  they  enjoy,  are  forced  to  "  groan  within  themselves, 
waiting"  for  a  very  different  state; — or  else  it  has  no 
meaning.  I  am  inclined  to  think,  that  neither  solution  is 
perfectly  correct.  All  the  meaning  which  the  statement 
has,  is  to  the  effect  just  expressed ;  but  as  I  feel  persuaded 
the  author  does  not  and  cannot  go  that  leng-th,  the  rest 
must  be  set  down  to  the  nature  of  the  expectation  actually 
entertained,  which  in  vain  will  any  one  attempt  intelligibly 
to  express. 

In  fine,  the  millennial  state,  according  to  the  foregoing 
representations  of  it,  will  not  be  our  Christianity  at  all. 
It  has  none  of  the  characteristics  of  a  slate  of  grace. ;  or, 
if  this  should  be  protested  against  as  an  unfair  inference 
from  their  statements,  let  them  give  up  contrasting  the 
present  with  what  they  call  the  millennial  dispensation.  As 
well  may  they  term  the  change  from  the  persecuted  to  the 
peaceful  state  of  the  Church  before  and  after  Constantino, 
a  change  of  dispensation  ;  as  well  may  they  call  by  the 
same  name  the  change  from  the  bloody  Mary  to  Elizabeth 
of  England,  and  similar  changes  in  Scotland  and  all  the 
other  kingdoms  of  Protestant  Christendom.  True,  the 
change  will  be  vastly  more  extensive^  'permanent^  and  glo- 
rious.^ that  is  to  characterise  the  millennial  period.  But 
will  there  be  one  element  in  it  that  has  not  been  already 
realised,  and  is  not  from  time  to  time  witnessed,  on  9, 
smaller  scale  ?  Not  one.  When  "  the  sovereignty  of  the 
world  has  become  our  Lord's  and  his  Christ's "  (Rev.  xi. 
15)  ;  when  the  kingdom  and  the  dominion,  and  the  great- 
ness of  the  kingdom,  under  the  whole  heaven,  is  given  to 
the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  ;  when  Christ's 
dominion  is  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  ends 


SUMMARY.  39? 

of  the  earth ;  when  men  are  blessed  in  him,  and  all  nations 
call  him  blessed ;  when  they  have  beaten  their  swords  into 
plough-shares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks — 
nation  not  lifting  up  sword  against  nation,  and  none 
learning  war  any  more : — then,  of  course,  all  the  earth  will 
be  at  rest  and  be  still,  save  in  the  unwearied  activities  of 
well-doing.  But  even  then,  as  the  flesh  will  lust  against 
the  spirit,  and  the  spirit  against  the  flesh,  so  salvation  in 
every  case  will  then  be  as  much  a  triumph  of  grace  oyer 
nature  as  now. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MILLENNIAL    BINDING    OF    SATAN WHAT    IT    IS    NOT.    ANT» 

WHAT    IT   IS. 

This  is  the  last  feature  of  the  millennial  period  on  which 
the  simple  truth  of  God's  word  has  been  obscured  by  un- 
authorised expositions.  Pre-millennialists  maintain — nor 
are  they  quite  alone  in  this  instance — that  a  total  cessa- 
tion OF  SATANIC  influence  during  the  millennium  is  pre- 
dicted in  the  following  passage  of  Scripture  : — 

Rev.  XX.  1-8,  7 :  "  And  I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from  heaven, 
having  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit  and  a  great  chain  in  his  hand. 
And  he  laid  hold  on  the  dragon,  that  old  serpent,  which  is  the 
Devil,  and  Satan,  and  bound  him  a  thousand  years,  and  cast  him 
into  the  bottomless  pit,  and  shut  him  up,  and  set  a  seal  upon  him, 
that  he  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more,  till  the  thousand  years 
should  be  fulfilled  ;  and  after  that  he  must  be  loosed  a  little  season. 
.  .  .  And  when  the  thousand  years  are  expired,  Satan  shall  be  loosed 
out  of  his  prison,"  &c. 

Before  examining  this  passage,  let  me  put  this  question 
to  the  humble  and  dispassionate  inquirer :  If  the  expecta- 
tion of  an  entire  cessation  of  Satanic  influence  be  indeed 
scriptural,  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  no  mention  is  made 
of  it,  nor  so  much  as  a  hint  given  of  it  in  all  Scripture, 
but  in  this  solitary  passage,  in  a  book  the  import  of  whose 
symbols  has  divided  the  Church  to  this  day  ?* 

*  They  must  be  sadly  at  a  loss  who  send  us  for  additional  evidence  to 
Isa.  xxiv.  21,  22,    That  the  general  'dea  expressed  in  that  passage  is 


HE  THAT  COMMITTETH  SIN  IS  OF  THE  DEVIL.       399 

What  candid  person  can  refuse  to  admit  that  this  ig 
suspicious  1 

But  this  is  not  all.  Not  only  is  the  thing  nowhere  else, 
but  the  expectation  is  contradicted  by  the  whole  teaching 
of  Scripture  elsewhere.  There  are  three  passages  which 
express  very  clearly  the  mind  of  God  upon  this  subject. 
The  first  is, 

1  John  iii.  8-10 :  "  He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil ;  for 
the  devil  sinneth  from  the  beginning.  For  this  purpose  the  Son 
of  God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the 
devil.  Whosoever  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin ;  for  his 
seed  remaineth  in  him ;  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is  born  of 
God.  In  this  the  children  of  God  are  manifest,  and  the  children 
of  the  devil ;  whosoever  doeth  not  righteousness  is  not  of  God," 
&c. 

Let  me  entreat  attention  to  the  teaching  of  this  pas- 
sage. It  divides  men  into  two  great  classes — those  who 
sin,  and  those  who  sin  not — styling  the  one  class  "  the 
children  of  the  devil,"  or  those  who  are  "  of  the  devil ;" 
and  the  other  class  "  the  children  of  God,"  those  who  are 
"  born  of  God,"  or  who  are  "  of  God."  Farther,  when 
the  apostle  says,  "  He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil, 
for  the  devil  sinneth  from  the  beginning,"  the  meaning 
plainly  is,  that  every  sinning  child  of  Adam  is  not  only 
the  seed  of  the  old  serpent,  but  is  actuated  by  him  in  all 
the  sin  which  he  cherishes  and  commits.  The  same  thing 
is  manifest  from  the  words  that  follow  :  "  For  this  purpose 
the  Son  of  God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the 
(Forks  of  the  devil,"  or  despoil  him  of  his  children  and  of 

Bymbolically  developed  in  this  of  Revelation,  is  perfectly  possible.  But 
to  adduce  it  as  another  proof  of  the  total  cessation  of  Satanic  influence, 
only  shows  to  what  shifts  they  are  reduced.  The  Duke  of  Manchester 
Bees  in  ''  Rom.  y.'n.  20,"  a  direct  reference  to  this  millennial  binding  of 
Satan !  (p.  24S  ) 


400    SATAN  STRIPPED   OF  THE   POWER   OF  DEATH  OVER, 

their  services  ;  till  wliich  time  every  son  of  Adara,  in  wLat 
ever  age  and  under  whatever  dispensation  he  maj  live,  is 
possessed  and  actuated  by  the  wicked  one.  In  short,  no- 
thing can  be  more  evident  than  that  the  apostle,  in  this 
passage,  makes  the  devil  an  inseparable  part  of  the  fallen 
system  and  reign  of  sin,  the  parent  of  all  its  hateful  brood, 
and  the  life  of  all  its  black  fruits  ;  that  he  is  dispossessed 
only  in  the  persons  of  those  who  are  "  born  of  God  ;"  that 
such  regenerate  souls,  and  their  escape  from  the  devil's 
family  and  service,  are  the  spoils  of  Christ's  conquest  over 
Satan  in  the  days  of  his  flesh  ;  and  that  all  who  are  not 
vitally  connected  with  this  victorious  Saviour  are  still  the 
devil's  children  and  servants,  and  all  the  sin  they  cherish 
and  practise  just  the  service  they  render  him,  "  the  works 
of  their  father  which  they  do." 

So  much  for  men  as  living  under  a  fallen  system.  The 
next  passage  views  them  as  victims  of  death  under  that 
system,  by  virtue  of  their  connexion  with  the  first  Adam, 
but  emancipated  through  vital  connexion  with  the  second 
Adam : 

Heb.  ii.   14,   15:  "That  through  death  he  might  destroy  him 

THAT    HAD   THE    POWER    OP    DEATH,    THAT    IS,    THE    DEVIL  ;     and   deliver 

them  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to 
bondage." 

"What  "  the  power  of  death'^  is  which  the  devil  "  had" 
till  Christ  stripped  him  of  it  on  the  cross,  I  have  already 
endeavoured  to  express  (p.  159).  But  the  legal  triumph 
of  the  Redeemer  on  the  cross  is  one  thing  ;  his  actual  tri- 
umph over  the  enemy,  in  any  given  case,  is  never  till  the 
prey  be  taken  from  the  terrible,  till  "  the  brand  be  plucked 
from  the  fire,"  in  the  day  of  converting  grace.  All  the  power 
which  the  old  serpent  acquired  oyer  men,  in  righteous  re- 
tribution  for   hearkening   to   his  will — and,   in   particular 


AND    BRUISED    UNDER,    NONE    BUT    BELIEVERS.      401 

the  "  power  of  death" — he  unquestionably  retains  still  over 
all  who  do  not  savingly  believe  on  him,  and  over  believera 
themselves  till  they  are  in  Christ ;  for  it  is  of  them  only 
that  the  apostle  says,  and  of  them  only  is  it  true,  that  they 
are  "  delivered  who  were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bond- 
age." In  that  "bondage  to  the  fear  of  death,"  then,  over 
which  the  devil  presides,  all  are  held  who  believe  not — over 
them  he  still  has  "  the  power  of  death." 

This  is  brought   clearly  out  by  the  third  and  last  pas- 


Rom,  xvi.  20:   "The  God  op  peace  shall  bruise  Satan  under 
YOUR  FKET  shortly." 

This  is  spoken  for  the  comfort  of  struggling  Christians 
• — announcing  the  speedy  termination  of  all  their  troubles 
and  annoyances,  by  the  bruising  under  their  feet  of  their 
grand  adversary.  This  way  of  speaking  clearly  supposes 
that  all  that  is  hostile  to  the  Christian,  of  whatever  sort,  is 
under  the  active  presidency  of  Satan,  and  so  holding  of  him, 
that  the  bruising  of  him  under  our  feet — getting  our  feet 
upon  the  neck  of  Satan — is  equivalent  to  the  complete  de- 
struction of  all  that  stands  in  the  way  of  our  salvation.  If, 
then,  there  be  a  total  cessation  of  Satanic  power  during  the 
millennium,  it  must  imply  that,  along  with  him,  every  thing 
that  stands  in  the  way  of  a  sinner's  salvation  has  been  taken 
Old  of  the  way.  But  as  few  are  prepared  to  go  this  length, 
the  millennial  "  binding"  of  Satan  must  mean  something 
short  of  this. 

Taking  these  three  passages  together,  then,  they  show 
clearly  the  connection  of  Satan  with  man  in  his  fallen 
state.  With  that  state  he  is  bound  up.  As  it  came  in  by 
him,  so  it  holds  of  him,  and  is  never  parted  from  him, 
"VVe  are  in  bondage  to  sin  and  him  at  once — we  shake  off 
both  together.  Sin  and  he  arc  insepirable  companions^ 
2l2 


402  BEARING    OF    THESE    TRUTHS. 

on  earth  and  in  hell.  The  tyranny  of  both  is  destroyed  in 
regeneration  ;  the  partial  power  of  both  remains  till  death, 
in  the  regenerate — but  that  of  the  one  Tiever  more^  and  never 
les>j  than  that  of  the  other  ;  and  at  death,  the  believer  sees 
the  backs  of  both  together.* 

If  this,  now,  be  Scripture  doctrine,  the  question  of  a 
total  cessation  of  Satanic  influence  during  the  millennium 
is  settled.  If  mankind  during  that  period  will  get  ahofvse 
the  law  and  conditions  of  the  fall^  then  may  Satan  have  no 
power  over  them,  and  nothing  to  do  with  them.     If  man- 

*  Mr.  H,  Bonar  coTnments  upon  this  and  the  preceding  paragraph, 
as  they  appeared  in  my  first  edition,  at  great  length,  addressing  himself 
to  it  once  and  again  in  the  course  of  his  volume.  At  one  time  he  sees  a 
denial  of  the  personality  of  Satan  ;  at  another,  a  denial  of  the  possibility 
of  sin  existing  without  the  agency  of  Satan,  and  so,  a  denial  of  the  total 
depravity  of  human  nature.  In  view  of  this,  he  tells  me  I  '*  stand  on 
Blippery  ground."  He  "  shall  not  employ,"  however,  "language  betoken- 
ing any  suspicion  of  my  opinions  regarding  Satanic  influence,  for  he  has 
no  such  suspicion."  For  this  I  should  be  more  grateful,  if  I  thought  I 
had  written  any  thing  to  merit  such  suspicion,  ^ut  I  am  quite  content 
to  leave  thai  question  to  the  intelligent  reader  of  what  I  have  written.  I 
have  slightly  altered  the  former  of  the  two  paragraphs,  which  Mr.  Bonar 
assails,  merely  to  bring  out  what  every  one  must  have  seen  to  be  my 
meaning;  but  I  have  purposely  left  both  paragraphs  very  much  as  they 
were,  to  show  that  I  adhere  to  what  I  wrote.  Not  a  word  was  said  im- 
plying the  impersonality  of  Satan;  not  a  word  to  throw  doubt  upon  the 
total  depravity  of  human  nature,  or  the  possibility — if  God  had  so  willed 
it— of  man  being  left  to  manifest  that  total  depravity  without  any  inter- 
ference, the  most  remote,  from  Satan.  But  I  had  nothing  to  do  with 
such  possibilities.  The  only  question  handled  in  my  paragraphs  related 
to  the  matter  of /act  -whether  the  word  of  God  warrants  the  belief  that 
the  depravity  of  human  nature  will  ever  be  separated,  in  the  way  alleged, 
from  the  agency  of  "its  father  the  devil."  I  have  given  some  scripture 
grounds  for  believing  that  it  will  not,  and  that  is  all.  The  whole  criticism 
I  regard  as  frivolous  in  the  extreme.  Let  my  arguments  be  answered; 
but  criticism  of  this  sort  will  never  advance  the  truth. 

I  do  not  apply  these  remarks  to  what  Mr.  Bonar  has  said  on  the  way 
in  which  Satan  is  to  be  bound,  and  on  my  conception  of  what  that  bind- 
ing is.    His  argui.ient  on  these  points  will  be  noticed  in  its  proper  placa 


BINDING    OF    SATAN — WHAT    IT    IS.  40r 

kind  will  not  be  divided,  as  now,  into  the  two  great  classes 
of  regenerate  and  unregenerate ;  if  all  will  be  of  one  class 
— "  born  of  God ;"  if  there  will  be  none  who  "  commit 
sin"  and  "  do  not  righteousness," — none  who  either  die 
out  of  Christ,  or,  though  not  dying  at  all,  are  not  vitally 
united  to  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life — then^  but  only 
then,  will  thr  devil  have  no  "  children,"  none  who  are  "  of 
him,"  doin^  bift  work,  yielding  him  service,  and,  "  for  fear 
of  death,"  kept  "  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage  "  In 
a  word,  if  the  'xnregenerate  be  gone ;  if  sin  in  the  regene^ 
rate,  with  all  its  inseparable  evils,  be  gone ;  if  the  fall  itself 
be  gone,  durio/^  the  millennium — then,  undoubtedly,  will  it 
be  distinguished  by  a  total  cessation  of  Satanic  influence. 
But  as  this  is  not  alleged — as  no  pre-millennialist  has  got 
this  length — the  doctrine  which  is  built  upon  this  one  text 
of  Scripture  raust  be  erroneous. 

Having  now  seen  what  the  predicted  "  binding"  of  Satan 
is  not,  let  us  now  inquire  what  it  is.  Happily  we  possess  a 
key  to  such  language  which  all  must  admit  to  be  unexcep- 
tionable. The  Apocalypse  is  the  best  interpreter  of  itself; 
and  a  very  little  attention  to  its  way  of  representing  Satan's 
power ,  and  loss  of  power,  will  make  all  plain. 

Ti>  chap.  a.  it  is  said  of  Pergamos,  that  "  Satan's  seat," 
or  *-  throne  {dpovosy  was  there,"  and  that  "  there  Satan 
dv/'^i.'"  (Verse  3.)  This  certainly  refers  to  the  powerful 
]}e.rty  which  Satan  had  in  that  place,  and  the  dominant  in- 
fluence which  through  them  he  exercised  in  opposition  to 
the  gospel — a  party  made  up  of  persecutors  on  the  one 
hand,  and  licentious  corrupters  of  the  truth  on  the  other.* 

*  "This,"  says  Scott,  "must  denote  that  Pergamos  was  not  only  a 
very  wicked  place  in  other  respects,  but  also  that  it  was,  as  it  were,  tha 
head-quarters  of  both  persecution  and  heresy,  the  two  principal  engines  of 
the  devil  in  opposing  the  pure  gospel  of  Christ,  and  that  from  thence  ihest 
dire  evils  di^uaed  their  baleful  influence  to  other  cities J^ 


404        SATAN    CAST    OUT HIS    PLACE    NOT    FOUND. 

If  this  be  correct,  the  U7iseating  or  dethroning  of  Satan  in 
Pergamos — his  banishment  from  "where  he  dwelt" — would 
not  mean  the  total  cessation  of  his  infiuerice  in  that  city,  but 
just  the  destruction  of  the  party  which  represented  him,  and 
did  his  work  in  opposing  the  gospel  there. 
In  chap.  xii.  we  read  : 

"  And  there  was  war  in  heaven :  Michael  and  his  angels 
fought  against  the  dragon;  and  the  dragon  fought  and 
his  angels,  and  pre^'ailed  not;  neither  was  their  place  found 
any  more  in  heaven.  And  the  great  dragon  was  cast  out, 
that  old  serpent,  called  the  Devil,  and  Satan,  which  de- 
ceive th  the  whole  world :  he  was  cast  out  into  the  earth,  and 
his  angels  were  cast  out  with  him.  And  I  heard  a  loud 
voice  saying  in  heaven.  Now  is  come  salvation,  and 
strength,  and  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and  the  power  of 
his  Christ;  for  the  accuser  of  our  brethren  is  cast  down, 
which  accused  them  before  our  God  day  and  night.  And 
they  overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the 
word  of  their  testimony;  and  they  loved  not  their  lives 
unto  the  death.  Therefore  rejoice,  ye  heavens,  and  ye  that 
dwell  in  them.  Woe  to  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth  and  of  the 
sea!  for  the  devil  is  come  down  unto  you,  having  great  wrath, 
because  he  knoweth  that  he  hath  but  a  short  time."  (Verse 
7-12.) 

The  general  voice  of  Protestant  interpreters  pronounces 
this  to  be  a  symbolic  prediction  of  the  fall  of  Paganism,  and 
the  Christianization  of  the  Roman  empire — the  prophetic 
"  earth" — under  Constantino.  The  "  heaven"  of  the  vision 
— the  high  places  of  the  empire — is  the  disputed  field,  whose 
it  shall  be;  whether  the  dragon  who  had  it  shall  keep  it,  or 
Christ,  who  had  it  not.  shall  get  it.  The  empire  was  Pagan, 
idolatrous,  bloody.  There  "  Satan's  throne  was — there  he 
dwelt."  Possessing  it  as  the  very  life  of  it,  influencing  and 
directing  all  its  movements,  he  used  it  as  a  dread  engine  of 
hell  to  crush  the  gospel  and  extirpate  the  Christians.     This 


FALL  OF  PAGANISM  DENOTED.         405 

is  the  view  of  it  given  in  the  opening  verses  of  the  chapter, 
where  the  Church  is  represented  as  ready  to  give  birth  to  her 
offspring — a  race  of  Christians  who  were  ultimately  to  rule 
all  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron,  or,  in  other  words,  to  crush  all 
her  enemies,  and  rule  the  world.  To  prevent  this  destruc- 
tion of  his  kingdom,  Satan  is  seen  as  "  a  red  dragon" — a 
bloody  persecutor — having  "  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and 
crowns  upon  the  heads ;"  which  just  means  the  empire,  as 
is  known  to  all  familiar  with  the  symbols  of  this  book.  In 
this  character,  then — as  the  very  life  and  moving  spring  of 
the  empire,  "  he  stood  before  the  woman  who  was  ready 
to  be  delivered,  for  to  devour  her  child  as  soon  as  it  was 
born" — in  plain  terms,  to  exterminate  the  Christians. 
Now  Christ  is  resolved  he  shall  not  only  fail  in  this,  but 
lose  even  the  ground  he  had.  The  empire  shall  no  longer 
be  wielded  by  him  as  a  terrible  engine  against  the  Church, 
and  its  power  shall  change  hands.  Its  high  places  shall  be 
occupied  by  the  very  party,  and  for  the  very  interest  which 
he  was  determined  to  crush.  The  heaven  of  the  vision  is 
lost — the  high  places  of  the  empire  are  wrenched  away  from 
his  grasp.  The  Christians  supplant  the  Pagans  in  the 
throne,  and  all  spheres  of  authority  and  influence  under  it. 
The  empire,  in  this  sense,  is  Christianised.  What  now 
becomes  of  him  ?  He  is  "  cast  out  into  the  earthy  and  his 
angels" — his  minions  in  the  war  for  Paganism — "  are  cast 
out  with  him  ;"  and  while  rejoicings  are  held  over  his  ex- 
pulsion from  the  one  sphere,  a  woe  is  pronounced  over  the 
other,  because  the  devil  has  come  down  to  it,  all  the  more 
enraged  since  this  first  victory  warns  him  to  set  his  house 
in  order,  and  be  ready  to  quit  that  too.  In  other  words, 
being  expelled  from  power  in  the  higher  places  of  the  em- 
pire, he  is  driven  to  try  what  he  can  do  to  keep  possession 
in  the  lower — to  preser  re  the  Paganism  of  the  masses,  and 
the  remote  parts  of  the  empire,  and  turn  it  still  against  the 


406  THE     VICTORY 

Church,  in  the  *ray  either  of  opposition  to  it,  or  corruption 
of  it.* 

Now,  here  I  would  ask  a  question  or  two : 

1.  When  "  the  dragon  was  cast  out  of  the  heaven"  of 
this  vision — •"  neither  was  his  place  found  any  more  in  hea' 
ven" — was  there  a  total  cessation  of  Satanic  influence  in 
those  high  places  ?  Nothing  of  the  sort  is  intended,  and 
no  such  thing  came  to  pass.  He  lost  his  party.  He  had 
no  more  a  friend  in  these  high  places.  And  even  thia 
means,  not  that  there  were  no  children  of  the  devil  there,  but 
only  that  he  got  nobody  in  those  places  to  sustain  his  Pagan 
cause  from  that  time. 

2.  When  upon  this  "  a  loud  voice  was  heard  in  heaven, 
saying,  Now  is  come  salvation,  and  strength,  and' the  kingdom 
of  our  God,  and  the  power  of  his  Christ ;  for  the  accuser  of 
our  brethren  is  cast  down,"  &c, — are  we  to  understand  that 
up  to  this  time  there  had  been  no  salvation,  no  strength,  no 
manifestation  at  all  of  the  kingdom  of  our  God  and  the  power 
of  his  Christ?  Certainly  not.  It  means  that  the  saving 
truths  of  the  Gospel — before  strugglingfor  preservation  in  the 
earth — had  become  triumphant :  that  a  hitherto  weak  cause 
and  party  had  won  its  way  to  "  strength,"  or  a  strong  posi- 
tion ;  that  "  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and  the  power  of  hia 
Christ"  had,  in  these  events,  taken  a  glorious  start — earnest 
of  universal  sway.  All  relates,  not  to  the  coming  in  of  any 
thing  new,  but  to  the  progress  of  what  had  been  for  cen- 
turies finding  it  hard,  in  the  heat  of  continual  persecution, 
to  keep  its  ground. 

3.  When,  in  connexion  with  Satan's  expulsion,  we  read 
the  following  description  of  his  trade,  which  was  thus,  in  a 
sense,  ended — "  And  the  great  dragon  was  cast  out,  that 
old  serpent,  called  the  Devil  and  Satan,  which  deceiveth 
the  whole  world — he  was  cast  out" — it  irresistibly  suggests 

*  See  the  commentatoi's. 


HOW    OBTAINED.  407 

t"he  description  of  the  20th  chapter,  which  it  is  our  object 
to  illustrate,  as  in  all  respects  parallel  with  it,  though  far 
inferior  in  grandeur  and  comprehensiveness  of  symbol.  The 
names  given  to  the  devil  are  in  both  places  the  same  ;  and 
so  is  the  description  of  his  business — deceiving  the  world. 
And  as  this  leads  us  to  believe  that  the  ^^  deceptio?i'^  in 
both  cases  is  similar — not  of  course  by  means  of  the  same 
things,  but  of  the  same  public  character,  with  the  view  of 
keeping  his  ground  in  both  cases  in  the  same  sense — so  it 
suggests  the  same  effect  as  following  that  expulsion  in  both 
cases.  In  both  cases  he  is  driven  out  from  his  former 
standing  and  power  against  the  Church  and  cause  of  Christ: 
in  the  latter  case  more  universally  and  more  thoroughly 
than  in  the  former ;  but  that  is  all  the  difference. 

4.  When  it  is  said  that  "  the  devil  was  cast  out  into  the 
earth^^  does  that  mean  that  Satanic  influence  was  for  the 
first  time  brought  then  to  bear  upon  the  persons  included 
under  that  term  ?  Undoubtedly  not ;  but  only  that,  hav- 
ing lost  his  hold  of  the  high  places,  he  sought  to  create 
a  party  amongst  those  represented  by  this  symbol.  He  did 
not  "  come  down  to  them"  in  their  individual  capacity,  or 
with  the  view  of  ruining  their  own  souls — the  vision  has 
nothing  to  do  with  that — but  he  came  down  to  get  them 
stirred  up  against  the  Gospel.  But,  most  important  of 
all— 

•  5.  How  was  the  expulsion  of  Satan  out  of  the  heaven  of 
the  vision  brought  about  ?  "  They" — the  Christians — 
"  overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word 
of  their  testimony  ;  and  they  loved  not  their  lives  unto  the 
death."  Two  things,  it  seems,  did  it.  They  "  believed  in 
their  hearts,  and  they  confessed  with  their  mouths  the  Lord 
Jesus."  By  the  one,  in  the  privacy  of  their  own  conscience, 
they  got  cleansing  and  holy  courage  to  do  the  other  before 
men ;  and  in  doing  it,  "  they  counted  not  their  own  lives 


408      SYMBOLIC    LANGUAGE    OF    THE    APOCALYPSE. 

dear  unto  them"  so  that  the  savour  of  that  blessed  name 
might  be  spread  abroad.  This  carried,  at  length,  all  before 
it.  The  Pagans  were  unable  to  stand  before  the  heroic 
testimony  of  pardoned  men  ;  they  were  beaten,  routed,  and 
fain  to  quit  the  field.  The  Gospel,,  in  the  persons  of  its 
living  adherents — or  rather  Christ  in  his  people — triumphed 
over  Paganism,  in  the  persons  of  its  blinded  votaries,  or 
rather  over  Satan  in  his  heathen  tools. 

And  yet,  while  the  defeat  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
victory  on  the  other,  were  just  error  flying  before  truth — 
true  religion  triumphing  over  and  expelling  false — and,  in 
consequence  of  this,  the  votaries  of  each  changing  places  in 
the  empire — this  is  represented  as  an  expulsion  of  the  unseen 
head  of  the  defeated  interest^  leaving  the  battle-field  in  ex- 
elusive  possession  of  the  victorious  Redeemer.  "  The  great 
Dragon  was  cast  out" — that  is  the  symbol  :  "  They  (the 
Christians)  overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb" — that 
is  the  plain,  the  divinely  authorized  explanation  of  the 

SYMBOL. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  see  the  bearing  of  all  this  upon 
the  explanation  of  the  opening  vision  of  the  20th  chapter. 

As  we  proceed  in  tracing  the  style  of  this  symbolic  book 
regarding  Satan,  we  find  the  same  empire  again  in  posses- 
sion of  the  dragon,  in  another  form.  The  seven  heads  and 
the  ten  horns  are  there  as  before  ;  but  the  crowns  are  now 
on  the  horns,  (chap.  xiii.  1.)  This  refers  to  the  empire 
after  it  fell  before  its  Gothic  invaders,  and  was  broken  up, 
and  at  length  consolidated  into  ten  independent  kingdoms. 
The  engine  he  now  wields,  by  means  of  the  empire,  is  eccle- 
siastical. He  has  turned  Christian  in  order  to  destroy 
Christianity.  He  betrays  it  with  a  kiss.  He  first  heathen" 
ises  Christianity  and  the  Church,  and  then  he  wages  war 
— with  all  the  strength  of  the  empire,  in  connexion  with 
its   ecclesiastical   chief   of  the   seven  hills— against  "  the 


■ATAN*S  DEFEAT  IN  ANTICHRIST's  DESTRUCTION.    409 

saints  of  the  Most  High"  who  will  not  submit  to,  and  fall 
in  with  his  heaven-blaspheming,  Christ-dishonouring,  soul- 
destroying  system.     It  is  Popery. 

But  in  this  last  and  most  formidable  character  he  is  des- 
tined to  be  "  cast  out,"  as  before.  The  battle  here  also  is 
of  the  same  character,  and  won  in  the  very  same  way. 
"  These  (ten  horns,  or  kingdoms  of  the  Papal  dragon) 
shall  make  war  with  the  Lamb,  and  the  Lamb  shall  over- 
come them" — in  the  same  sense  as  we  saw  he  did  in  the 
days  of  Paganism — "  for  he  is  Lord  of  lords,  and  King  of 
kings  ;  and  they  that  are  with  him  are  called,  and  chosen, 
and  faithful."  (Chap.  xvii.  11.)  To  make  this  army  of 
"  called,  chosen,  faithful  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ,"  to  be 
the  glorified  saints  who  will  come  with  him  at  his  second 
appearing,  is  every  way  preposterous.  It  is  manifestly  the 
same  company  of  faithful  ones  mentioned  in  the  I44ii 
chapter,  and  described  as  "the  undefiled"  party,  who, 
amidst  the  almost  universal  unfaithfulness  to  Christ's  truth 
and  cause,  ''follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth." 
(Ver.  4.)  It  is  a  battle,  just  as  before,  between  Chrisfs 
truth  and  the  devil's  lies,  in  the  persons  of  their  respective 
adherents  among  rmn.  The  lies  are  different,  but  the  lying 
character  of  both  systems,  and  their  enmity  against  all  that 
stood  in  their  way,  is  the  same.  Christ  is  represented  as 
coming  out  of  heaven  on  a  war  horse,  as  the  captain  of  a 
band  of  celestial  horsemen,  and  with  all  the  insignia  of  his 
trampled  rights,  as  the  prophet,  the  priest,  and  the  king  of 
his  Church,  to  give  battle  to  the  confederate  enemies  of 
his  blessed  sway.  The  battle  is  fought  and  won.  "  The 
beast" — antichrist — "  is  taken,"  and  goes  whence  it  came 
— to  hell.  "  The  remnant  are  slain" — the  adherents  of  the 
defeated  interest  are  crushed — and  all  xQvu^xmwg  appearance 
in  behalf  of  it  vanishes.     (Chap.  xix.  1 1  to  end.) 

The  capture  of  the  beast,  and  the  consignvient  of  ii  to  hell, 
2m 


410  NO    PARTY    FOR    SATAN    IN    MILLENNIUM. 

having  reference  to  a  public  body,  a  vast  organised  confede^ 
racy,  must  be  interpreted  according  to  the  only  way  in  which 
retribution  can  light  upon  such  bodies.  And  how  littlo 
individuals,  as  such,  have  to  do  with  the  whole  subject,  ap- 
pears  from  the  songs  of  triumph  which  here,  as  before,  are 
sung  over  the  glorious  issue :  "  Rejoice  over  her,  thoa 
heaven,  and  ye  saints  and  apostles  and  prophets,  for  God 
hath  avenged  you  on  her,  (xviii.  20.)  Now,  the  Papal 
system  denoted  by  •'  her"  was  not  in  existence  for  ages  after 
"  the  apostles  and  prophets"  had,  as  individuals,  gone  the 
way  of  all  the  earth.  Yet  they  are  said  to  be  avenged  on 
Babylon.  What  can  this  mean,  save  as  the  victory  of  their 
doctrine  or  principles  which  the  Papal  system  sought  to 
destroy?  In  the  same  sense  we  are  to  interpret  every 
similar  statement  in  this  book.  So,  likewise,  are  we  to 
understand  such  sayings  as  these,  "  Alleluia,  for  the  Lord 
God  omnipotent  reigneth."  It  is  just  the  cause  of  the  Lord 
which  has  become  triumphant  over  the  dragon's  Anti-chris- 
tian,  as  before  over  his  Pagan  party. 

Well,  we  have  found  one  party  of  the  dragon  falling 
after  another  ;  and  we  naturally  look  to  be  told  lahat  party 
he  is  to  be  allowed  to  form  next.  The  answer  of  the  20th 
chapter  is — None  at  all.  He  is  removed  from  the  earth, 
and  chained  up  for  a  thousand  years,  during  all  which 
period  he  shall  no  more  deceive. the  nations.  After  what 
we  have  found  to  be  the  style  of  this  book,  on  the  subject 
of  Satan's  "  deceptions" — after  the  key  with  which  the 
preceding  part  of  it  has  furnished  us,  for  opening  these 
perfectly  similar  representations — can  the  meaning  remain 
doubtful?  It  is  just  this:  That,  during  that  happy 
period,  the  cause  of  Christ  should  carry  it  every  where,  and 
Satan  be  allowed  no  lodgment  in  any  spot  on  the  globe  to 
form  a  public  party  in  opposition  to  Christ ;  that  in  thia 
sense,  his  trade  will  be  at  an  end ;  that  representatives  and 


HOW    EFFECTED.  4l1 

tools  for  the  doing  of  such  work,  he  will  have  none — as  if 
men  should  wonder  where  he  was,  and  go  in  search  of  hiiUj 
but  find  him  nowhere — he  has  been  swept  off  the  stage. 

But  are  we  not  warranted  to  go  a  step  farther  1  This 
symbolical  seizure  and  chaining  of  the  enemy — is  it  the 
effect  of  mere  sovereign  power  carrying  off  the  field  a 
troublesome  foe,  out  of  pity  to  a  Church  unable  to  cope 
with  and  cast  him  out  ?  Is  it  something  done  for  the 
Church's  relief,  and  altogether  without  the  Church's  instru' 
mentality  ?  Has  the  Church,  in  all  time  before,  "  come  to 
the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty"  ;  and  has  the  Lord, 
reversing  all  his  former  methods,  come  now  to  the  help  of  the 
Church  against  the  mighty  ?  I  think  not  It  is  Christ's 
doing,  doubtless  ;  but  it  is  his  doing  in  and  by  his  Church. 
"  The  strong  man  armed  long  kept  his  palace,  and  his  goods 
were  in  peace  ;  but  now,  a  stronger  than  he  cometh  upon 
him,"  in  his  living  Church,  "  and  taketh  from  him  all  his 
armour  wherein  he  trusted,  and  divideth  his  spoils."  The 
"  dragon  is  laid  hold  on,^^  in  the  same  sense  precisely  as 
"the  beast  was  taken"  (xix.  20.)  The  Church  will  do 
BOTH  ;  not  only  defeating  Antichrist,  but  thereafter,  for  a 
thousand  years,  never  permitting  tJie  devil  to  gain  an  inch  of 
grmind  to  plant  his  foot  on  over  the  wide  world* 

Let  the  reader  now  say  whether  this  interpretation  does 
not  perfectly  correspond  with  all  that  we  have  found  to  be 
the  undisputed  dominion  and  spiritual  glory  of  the  Church 
in  the  latter  day.  If  it  does,  then  observe  what  follows  from 
it.  There  is  in  this  case  no  new  revelation  made  at  all,  but 
only— as  the  manner  of  the  Apocalypse  is  known  to  be — a 

*  "  Do  the  tares  (allowed  by  Mr.  Brown  during  the  millennium)  not 
require  one  inch  of  ground  to  grow  upon  ?"  {Mr.  H.  Bonar,  p.  46.)  If 
there  be  any  thing  in  this,  Mr.  Bonar  will  have  to  answer  it  himself,  aa 
he  also  allows  sin  (which  certainly  is  not  wheat)  during  the  millennium. 
But  there  is  nothing  in  it.  I  speak  of  a  public  jiaHy  espousing  error  and 
evil 


413  EXTENT    OF    SATANIC    RESTRAINT. 

conrentrated  representation  of  all  that  is  elseivhere  said,  in 
a  way,  and  with  a  charm,  quite  its  own.  On  the  other 
hand,  supposing  this  not  to  be  the  true  sense  of  the  vision, 
but  that  the  pre-millennialists  are  right  in  holding  that  it 
means  the  total  cessation  of  Satanic  influence  on  the  earth, 
then  it  is  not  only  a  revelation  made  here  alone — when,  if 
true,  it  might  have  been  looked  for,  and  could  scarce  fail 
to  have  dropt  in  numberless  other  places — but  it  is  a  reve 
lation  in  direct  opposition  to  the  whole  teaching  of  Scrip- 
ture elsewhere. 

SUPPLEMENTARY    REMARKS. 

In  case  the  strong  denunciatory  criticism  of  Mr.  H. 
Bonar  on  the  contents  of  this  chapter  should  lead  any 
reader  to  think  that  I  have  put  forth  something  novel,  rash, 
and  dangerous,  I  add  a  few  paragraphs  on  the  subject,  and 
the  rather,  as  it  is  one  of  some  interest  in  itself 

1.  As  to  the  extent  to  which  Satan  is  to  be  restrained 
in  the  latter  day,  I  have  expressed  only  the  view  of  the 
majority  of  expositors,  in  rejecting  the  notion  of  a  total  ces- 
sation of  Satanic  influence.  Up  to  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  nearly  all  divines  thought  that  this 
"  binding  of  Satan"  began  either  with  the  gospel  itself,  or 
with  Constantine.  Did  such  think  that  the  influence  of 
Satan  had  totally  ceased  upon  earth,  or  that  any  such  thing 
was  the  sense  of  this  prophecy?  Of  course  not.  Then, 
as  to  subsequent  expositors,  who  take  the  fulfilment  of  the 
prophecy  to  be  future,  I  need  do  no  more  than  name  such 
as  Durham,  Vitringa,  Daubuz,  Lawman,  President  Ed- 
wards, and  Faber,  who,  with  many  others,  understand 
the  prophecy  as  I  do,  not  of  an  entire  cessation  of  Satanic 
influence,  but  relatively  to  his  former  permitted  power  to 
corrupt,  divide,  persecute,  and  waste  the  kingdom  of 
Christ. 


DURHAM.  413 

"  T\vo  ends,"  says  Durham,  "or  reasons  are  set  down  to  cleai 
the  angel's  proceeding:  1.  He  is  bound,  'that  he  should  deceive 
the  nations  no  more;'  that  is,  kept  from  having  such  influence  to 
delude  the  world,  as  he  had  done  before,*  who  first  made  them 
a'l  heathens  and  idolaters  generall}',  then  after  that  made  them 
all  to  worship  the  beast,  and  himself  in  him,  so  that  there  was 
scarce  the  face  of  a  visible  Church.  Now,  he  shall  not  get  thai 
liberty  so  universally  to  delude  nations  and  eclipse  the  face  of 
Christ's  Church,  as  he  had  done.  Nor,  2,  ever  after  that  shall 
he  get  the  world  so  generally  to  ignorance,  superstition,  idolatry, 
and  persecution  against  the  godly,  as  formerly  he  had  done.  Thus 
*  deceiving  no  more '  is  not  to  be  understood  simply  [absolutel}'], 
but  with  respect  to  such  extent  and  success,  and  is  here  added  to  sig- 
nify a  new  restraint  put  upon  him  beyond  what  is  in  his  '  casting 
to  the  earth,'  chap.  xii. ;  where,  though  he  was  put  from  open 
persecution,  yet  did  he  follow,  and  that  not  without  success,  a 
new  way — by  deceit,  chap.  xiii. ;  but  now  is  he  restrained,  in  a 

great  measure,  from  that  also This  '  loosing '  of  Satan 

out  of  prison  must  be  in  reference  to  his  former  binding,  et 
contra,  that  as  he  was  restrained  from  engaging  the  nations  in 
such  open  and  universal  hostility  against  the  Church  as  had  been, 
now  his  loosing  must   be  the   giving  of  him  some  link  loose,  to 


*  If  the  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  this  Commentary  is  a  posthu- 
mous publication,  and  consists  of  lertures  delivered  by  the  author  from 
week  to  week  to  his  congregation,  in  addition  to  two  sermons,  his  won- 
der will  be,  not  that  an  occasional  imperfection  should  occur  in  the  struc- 
ture of  his  sentences,  as  I  have  left  uncorrected  here,  but  that  such  im- 
perfections are  so  few.  When  one  thinks  of  his  active  labours,  and  the 
solid  works  he  prepared  for  the  press,  and  the  early  age  at  which  he  died 
{thirty-six,  1658),  he  will  probably  regard  him  as  a  rare  light  in  the 
Church  of  God.  While  preparing  these  lectures  on  the  Revelation,  he  set 
apart  a  considerable  pnrt  of  one  day  in  every  week  for  prayer,  doubtless 
for  light.  And  I  venture  to  say,  that  though  his  views  on  some  points 
are  confessedly  unsatisfactory,  there  is  not  one  commentary  on  the 
whole  book  of  Revelation  of  equal  age,  that  any  one  would  put  in  com- 
parison with  it,  and  hardly  one  of  any  age  which,  for  solidity  of  matter 
and  closeness  of  reasoning  on  structural  questions,  is  likely  to  reward 
the  patient  studer.t  more,  even  though  inclined  to  dissent  from  the  au- 
thor's conclusiom  The  reader  will  perhaps  excuse  this  little  digrea- 
sion. 

2  M  2 


414       EXTENT    OF    SATANIC    RESTRAINT VITRINOA. 

be  able  to  bring  more  of  that  about  than  during  the  time  of  his  restraint^ 
as  appeareth  in  the  two  verses  following:  1.  In  that  '  he  went  out 
to  deceive,'  and  more  vigorously  set  about  it.  2.  In  that  he  did  it 
more  successfully  than  formerly,  yet  not  without  a  link  upon  him; 
so  THAT  HIS  BINDING  IS  NOT  ABSOLUTE  beforc,  more  than  his  loosing 
is  now,  but  comparatively.^  * 

"The  sense  of  the  emblem,"  says  Vitringa  —  "of  seizing, 
binding,  casting  into  prison,  shutting  up  and  setting  a  seal 
upon  Satan,  that  he  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more  —  is, 
that  Satan,  during  this  time  of  the  thousand  years,  should  be 
so  powerfully  and  effectually  bridled,  and  by  the  Divine  hand 
restrained,  that  he  would  seem  to  be  confined  within  the  well- 
secured  and  closely-shut  barriers  of  the  abyss,  and  there  by  * 
mighty  power  kept  prisoner,  'that  he  might  not  seduce  the  na- 
tions.' Which  what  it  means,  can  there  be  room  for  doubt  1 
Satan  '  seduces  the  nations'  when  he  inspires  them  with  de- 
signs hurtful  to  the  Church  of  Christ :  that  is,  when  he  excites 
in  them  the  love  of  superstition,  idolatry,  and  false  religion,  and 
hatred  of  the  true ;  and  when,  under  the  influence  of  this  base 
affection,  he  instigates  and  drives  them  on  to  rage  against  the 
Church,  the  true  people  of  God.  For  though  there  are  various 
other  kinds  of  Satanic  seductions,  this  is  the  specific  kind  of  seduc- 
tion iritended  here,  as  is  clear  from  this  vision  (v.  8),  and  from 
the  parallel  visions  (chap.  xii.  9),  and  as  may  easily  be  gathered 
from    the    very    word   vXavav   ('  seduce,')    which    has    respect    to 

religious  doctri?ie  (Matt.  xxiv.   5,    11) This,   then,  is  the 

first  character  of  this  time:  'Satan  bound  and  imprisoned'  —  not 
educing  the  nations  to  false  religion,  and  to  the  persecution  of  the  saints. 
During  this  period  there  shall  be  no  public  persecution  of  the 
Church.  No  new  and  false  religion  adverse  to  that  of  Christ 
shall  arise;  no  idolatry  or  superstition  which,  in  nations  insti- 
gated by  the  devil,  might  lead  to  the  persecution  of  the  Church. 
If,  however,  any  nations  '  in  the  corners  of  the  earth '  (verse  8) 
should  persist  in  the  erroneous  views  of  their  ancestors  on  reli- 
gion, Satan  should  not  succeed  in  getting  them  to  undertake  the 
vindication  and  propagation  of  that  religion  of  theirs,  so  as  to 

disturb  the  peace  and  happiness   of   the  Church When 

it  is  said  that  Satan  is  to  be  '  loosed '  again  at  the  end  of  thig 


♦  Expos,  of  Book  of  Rev.  ad.  lac 


REMARKS.  415 

millennium,  it  is  just  as  if  the  prophecy  had  said,  that  God  would 
permit  Satan  again  to  disturb  the  state  of  the  Church  by  a  new  and 
last  effort."  * 

Let  me  request  the  reader's  attention  to  the  distinction 
which  Vitringa  draws  between  the  ordinary  temptations  of 
Satan,  and  those  specific  efforts  against  the  Church  and 
cause  and  truth  of  God  to  which  alone  this  prophecy  has 
respect.  Not  only  did  this  eminent  divine  and  student  of  pro- 
phecy not  hold  any  total  cessation  of  Satan's  influence  dur- 
ing the  millennium,  but  he  carefully  confines  the  predicted 
restraint  to  those  specific  operations  of  his  which  affect 
THE  Church.  The  same  does  Durham;  and  although  I 
am  far  from  denying  that  there  are  those  who  take  the  re- 
straint to  be  absolute,  I  will  venture  to  affirm  that,  with 
the  exception  of  pre-millennialists,  it  is  just  in  proportion  to 
their  general  acuteness  and  accuracy  as  interpreters,  that  we 
shall  find  expositors  agreeing  with  or  differing  from  Vitringa 
and  Durham  on  this  point.  Let  the  reader  mark,  too,  in 
what  way  both  these  interpreters  arrive  at  this  sense  of  the 
prophecy.  They  both  refer  us  to  the  parallel  visions  in  this 
same  book,  particularly  that  in  chap.  xii.  9.  Now  this  is 
the  very  ground  which  I  had  independently  taken.  I  consi- 
dered the  Apocalypse  the  best  interpreter  of  itself,  and  traced 
its  manner  of  representing  the  agency  of  Satan  down  to  the 
millennial  "  binding."  Who  will  deny  that  this  is  the  na- 
tural and  proper  way  of  settling  the  point  ?  Yet  not  a  word 
do  I  find  on  this  in  all  that  Mr,  Bonar  has  written.  He  is 
abundant  enough  on  the  symbolic  language  employed  in 
the  passage  itself,  endeavouring  to  show  that  it  can  moan 
nothing  else  than  such  a  local  incarceration  as  is  incompa- 
tible with  the  least  exercise  of  power  beyond  the  precincts 
of  his  prison.  One  thing,  however,  is  certain,  that  the 
fallen  angels  are  expressly  said  to  be  not  only  "  cast  down 

*  Anakris.  Apocalyps.  ad  cap.  xx.  3,  8. 


416  HOW    SATAN    WILL    BE    RESTRAINED. 

to  Ag/Z,"  but  to  be  "  in  chains,"  there  "  reserved  unto  judg 
ment"  (2  Peter  ii.  4),  from  which  expressions  we  should 
certainly  draw  the  very  same  conclusion  as  Mr.  Bonar  does 
regarding  the  chaining  of  Satan  in  the  abyss,  were  we  to 
insist  on  taking  the  language  by  itself.  But  as  we  know 
by  sad  experience  how  compatible  the  incarceration  and 
enchainment  of  Satan  in  hell  is  with  the  exercise  of  large 
power  among  men  on  the  earth,  we  should  be  extremely 
careful  not  to  expound  such  symbolic  language  without  the 
aid  of  other  and  clearer  representations  of  the  same  thing, 
lest  we  should  put  upon  it  a  sense  which  was  never  intend- 
ed, not  to  say  a  sense  directly  opposite  to  the  teaching  of 
Scripture  in  its  most  naked  and  unfigurative  passages.* 

2.  A  few  words  now  on  the  way  in  which  this  restraint  on 
Satan  is  to  be  effected.  I  said,  that  instead  of  its  being  done 
merely  far  the  Church,  it  would  be  brought  about  by  the 
instrumentality  of  the  Church  itself  This  is  but  an  opinion, 
however,  and  I  have  so  expressed  myself  as  to  make  this 
more  evident  than  in  the  former  edition.  At  the  same  time 
it  is  an  opinion  for  which  I  think  there  are  good  grounds, 
though  it  may  or  may  not  be  held  without  aifecting  one's 
general  view  of  this  millennial  vision. 

The  first  thing  which  guided  me  to  this  conclusion  was 

•  Homer  represents  the  cessation  of  war  for  thirteen  months  as  ^ 
chaining  down  oi  Mars  with  strong  fetters,  in  a  prison  of  brass,  for  that 
period : 

TA^  ^itv  Ap/jj,  hrt  fiiv  Qrof  Kpartpos  t   E^iaXrqf, 

IlaiJe;  AXw^os,  inaav  Kparepb)  svi  Seffjxa.', 

XoXifeW  S'ev  Kepufiit)  SeSero  rptaKaidcKa  jitivas. 

—11.  E.  385-387. 
Similarly  Virgil ; 

— Dirse  ferro  et  compagibus  arctis 
Claudentur  Belli  portae;  Furor  impius  intus, 
Saeva  sedens  super  arma,  et  centum  vinctus  ahenis 
Post  tergum  v.odis,  fremet  horridus  ore  cruento. 

—jEn.  i.  293-298. 


APOCALYPTIC  PHRASEOLOGY.  41? 

the  undoubted  sense  of  the  parallel  vision  in  chapter  xii. 
There,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  symbols  employed  in 
the  vision  are  afterwards  translated  into  plain  speech. 
There  "  the  war  in  heaven"  turns  out  to  have  its  battle- 
field in  the  high  places  of  the  earth  ;  the  "  fight  between 
Michael  and  his  angels  and  the  dragon  and  his  angels"  is 
just  the  struggle  bet  wee  a  the  friends  of  each  here  below 
(or  between  themselves  in  the  persons  of  their  friends) ;  and 
the  victorious  party,  which  in  the  vision  is  "  Michael  and 
his  angels,"  is  just  the  Christians,  or  Christ  in  them — be- 
lieving men  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  un- 
daunted in  witnessing  for  Jesus,  as  became  pardoned  men, 
and  ready  to  go  as  sheep  to  the  slaughter  for  his  name's 
sake — "  They  overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb, 
and  by  the  word  of  their  testimony,  and  they  loved  not 
their  lives  unto  the  death."  Thus  is  the  devil  represented 
as  cast  out  of  the  Pagan  world  by  the  instrumentality  of 
believing  men. 

Still  more  to  our  purpose  is  the  vision  of  chap,  ix.,  whc/e 
we  find  "  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit"  given  to  a  man, 
who  opens  the  pit.  This  man  is  symbolized  by  "  a  star" 
which  was  seen  to  "fall  from  heaven,"  that  is,  as  is  gen- 
erally agreed,  an  apostate  minister.  "  To  him  (says  the 
vision)  was  given  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit ;  and  he 
opened  the  bottomless  pit."  Are  we  to  take  these  symbols 
in  a  material  and  local  sense  ?  If  so,  they  will  be  some- 
what difficult  to  manage.  But  if  we  take  the  meaning  to 
be,  that  this  man,  ^'giving  place  to  the  devil"  and  proving 
faithless  to  Christ,  was  permitted  to  act  as  a  great  engine 
of  hell  over  a  wide  territory,  till  then  nominally  Christian, 
but  yielding  little  fruit  unto  God — all  is  clear  and  consis- 
tent. Farther,  on  the  opening  of  the  pit  we  are  told  there 
issued  so  dense  a  "  smoke"  (fumes  of  error),  that  "  the  air 
was  darkened  by  reason  of  the  smoke  of  the  pit."     If  you 


418  HUMAN    INSTRUMENTALITY. 

take  this  in  a  local  sense,  you  must  suppose  that  these  ei- 
rofs  were  till  then  shut  up  in  the  abyss  while  '•  the  Prince 
of  ddrkyiess'^  was  Tiot  there,  and  not  to  be  there  till  the  mil- 
lennium ;  that  they  issued  forth  not  under  his  presiding  in- 
fluence at  all ;  and  that  they  darkened  the  religious  atmo- 
sphere simply  and  solely  by  the  agency  of  this  apostate 
"star."  See  what  comes  of  taking  these  symbols  in  so 
crass  a  sense  as  Mr.  H.  Bonar  would  seem  to  contend  for. 
But  if  we  take  them  to  denote  spiritual  tiuth,  and  the 
sense  here  to  be  simply,  that  hellish  error  was  permitted 
to  overspread  a  nominally  Christian  territory  through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  fallen  minister  of  Christ,  we  have  a 
consistent  and  worthy  sense,  the  sense  almost  universally 
put  upon  the  language.*  Well,  if  an  apostate  minister 
may  open  the  pit  and  darken  the  air  with  the  smoke  of  it, 
may  not  Christ's  faithfal  servants,  acting  in  his  name,  do 
the  reverse?  May  not  tlie  Sun  of  Righteousness  arising 
on  the  Church,  and  shedding  his  warm  bright  beams  of 
truth  and  grace  over  its  obscured  territories,  chase  back 
the  darkness  whence  it  came,  and  the  Prince  of  darkness 
himself,  shutting  the  pit  upon  them  both  ?  If  it  be  not  too 
much  for  men,  when  '•  the  key  is  given  to  them,"  to  open 
the  pit  and  let  out  its  baleful  contents,  is  it  too  much  for 

♦  It  will  be  of  no  avail  here  to  conjure  up  Dr.  Bush,  and  such-like,  to 
show  that,  by  our  way  of  interpreting  the  symbols,  they  get  rid  of  a  great 
deal  more  than  we  are  willing  to  part  with.  There  are  those  who  can 
distinguish  things  that  differ;  who,  in  seeking  to  avoid  Scy^Za  do  not 
think  it  necessary  to  rush  into  Charybdis;  who,  holding  the  maxim, 
Tlieologia  symbolica  non  est  argumeiitativa,  neither  build  doctrinal  sys- 
tems out  of  symbols,  nor  reject  the  truths  which  are  plainly  revealed, 
merely  because,  over  and  above  the  plain  revelation  of  them,  they  are  in- 
vested also  with  pictorial  forms. 

I  may  here  add,  that  I  have  purposely  refrained  from  all  histoHcal  ap- 
plication of  the  above  vision,  confining  myself  to  the  sense  of  the  sym,' 
hols,  which  is  the  same  on  any  historical  application  of  them.  I  think 
there  is  some  reason  to  doubt  whether  the  generally  received  applicatioa 
U  the  right  one. 


THIS    VIEW    SUSTAINED    BY    CHRIST    HIMSELF.       419 

the  friends  of  Him  to  whom  the  key  is  not  said  to  be 
give  1,  but  who  is  said  to  "  have  the  key  of  the  bottomless 
pit"  (Rev.  XX.  1  ;  compare  chap.  i.  18),  in  right  of  con- 
quest, not  only  to  "  overcome  the  dragon  by  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb,"  &c.,  but  to  chase  him  back  to  the  abyss,  to 
shut  in  the  tyrant,  and  keep  him  close  prisoner,  thereby 
merely  undoings  as  instruments  of  Christ,  what  the  instru- 
ments of  the  devil  confessedly  did  ? 

What  says  the  Redeemer  himself  when  the  seventy  re- 
turned to  him  with  joy  from  "  healing  the  sick,  casting  out 
devils,  and  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,"  as  he  com- 
manded them.  •'  Lord,"  said  they,"  even  the  devils  are  subject 
unto  us  through  thy  name.  And  he  said  unto  them,  I  beheld 
Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven."  (Luke  x.  17, 
18).  Was  this  a  local  fall  ?  Nay,  but  a  fall  from  power. 
And  was  it  merely  so  much  of  his  power  as  he  lost  by  the 
brief  labours  of  these  seventy  disciples  that  the  Redeemer 
"  saw  ?"  No,  certainly ;  it  was  a  prospective  view  of  the 
whole  conquests  of  his  people  oyer  the  enem}^  "  through  his 
name  ;"  and  if  so,  it  will  not  be  easy  to  show  that  the 
millennial  seizure,  binding,  and  imprisonment  of  the  dra- 
gon, are  any  thing  else  but  one  great  act  of  this  drama  per- 
formed by  the  same  parties — "  the  devils  subject  unto  us 
through  His  name." 

But  what  says  the  Redeemer  again  ?  "  When  a  strong 
man  armed  keepeth  his  palace  his  goods  are  in  peace  ; 
but  when  a  stronger  than  he  shall  come  upon  him  and 
overcome  him^  he  taketh  from  him  all  his  armour  wherein 
he  trusteth,  and  divideth  his  spoils"  (Luke  xi.  21,  22.) 
"  How  can  one  enter  a  strong  man's  house  and  spoil  his 
goods,  except  he  first  bind  the  strong  man,  and  then  he 
will  spoil  his  house?"  (Matt.  xii.  29.)  Now  every  one 
admits  that  this  "  coming  upon,"  •'  overcoming,"  and 
"binding"  of  Satan,  is  not  properly  a   struggle  betweeo 


420    CONFIRMATORY  EXTRACTS ANDREAS PAROUS. 

the  persons  of  Christ  and  Satan  (whatever  may  pass  ho- 
tween  them  in  the  unseen  world,  of  which  we  know  no- 
thing). It  is  a  conflict  of  interests  upon  earth.*  And  aa 
it  is  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  truth,  and  of  living 
Christians,  that  all  the  triumphs  of  Christ  over  Satan 
are  achieved  upon  earth,  and  this  is  styled  by  the  Lord 
himself  the  seizure  and  binding  of  Satan,  why  may  not  the 
same  symbols,  as  employed  with  a  little  greater  fullness  by 
his  beloved  disciple,  signify  the  same  thing  ?  Of  course 
I  do  not  exclude  those  providential  restraints  which  have 
in  every  age  concurred  with  the  truth  in  the  triumphs  of 
the  cause  of  God.  So  far  from  excluding  these,  I  think 
it  likely  that  the  whole  moral,  social,  and  political  arrange- 
ments by  which,  under  the  overmastering  influence  of  re- 
ligious principle,  the  millennial  era  will  be  distinguished, 
will  present  one  vast  breastwork  of  providential  restraints 
upon  evilj  proclaiming  to  the  enemy  of  souls  the  utter  hope- 
lessness of  raising  up  his  fallen  kingdom  during  all  that 
period.  All  I  mean  to  convey  is,  that  I  see  no  reason  to 
think  the  restraining  power  will  be  put  forth  miraculously^ 
immediately^  or  altogether  apart  from  those  instrumenta- 
lities which  God  has,  in  every  previous  age,  employed  in 
"  destroying  the  works  of  the  devil." 

"  This  binding  of  Satan,"  says  Andreas,  one  of  the  earliest  com- 
mentators, "is  the  overthrow  of  the  devil,  which  is  accomplished  by 
the  power  of  the  Lord's  passion :  for  by  this  is  the  strength  of  Satan 
bound."  t 

"  The  sura  of  it,"  says  Parous,  "  is  the  victory  of  Christ  over 
Satan,  of  which  it  is  said,  '  Now  is  the  Prince  of  this  world  judged ;' 


*  Mr.  Bonar  will  here  tell  me  that  I  am  in  danger  of  losing  the  person 
ality  both  of  Christ  and  Satan,  and  introducing  a  conflict  of  abstractions^ 
by  srjch  language.  But  as  I  believe  it  to  be  quite  appropriate,  so  I  have 
no  fiar  of  its  being  misunderstood. 

t  Quoted  by  Parcetis. 


CONFIRMATORY    TESTIMONIES DURHAM.  421 

*  I  saw  Satan  fall  as  lightning  frovi  Heaven;^  '  T/ie  Prince  of  this 
world  sluUl  be  cast  out'  "  * 

"  The  angel,"  says  Durham,  "  hath  '  a  great  chain  in  his  hand.' 

This  shovveth his   subordination   to   Christ's    sovereignty, 

who  effectually   restraineth  him He  '  layeth  hold  on  him ' 

by  his  power,  as  one  in  fury  and  anger — he  grippeth  him.  The 
paity  gripped  and  bound  is  described  just  as  in  chap.  xii.  to 
show  (1.)  that  it  is  the  same  devil  that  was  cast  down  to  the 
earth  that  is  now  furtJier  bound;  (2.)  that  we  may  have  some  help 
to  knit  this  story  of  the  serpent  to  the  foregoing  story  of  that 
same  party.  He  '  bindeth  this  serpent ' — tied  him  up  as  it  were 
— and  that  for  a  long  time,  even  '  a  thousand  years.'  He  '  cast- 
eth  him  into  the  bottomless  pit,' which  he  feared;  that  is,  putteth 
him  not  only  from  magistracy,  and  open  persecution,  as  before  (chap, 
xii.),  but  also  restraineth  him  from  such  underhand  dealing  as  he  had 
before,  and  discovereth  him  and  his  working  in  a  co?isiderable  degree 
beyand  what  was;  and  he  '  shutteth  him  up,  and  sealeth  it'  (as  Dan. 
vi.  and  17),  to  show  the  certainty  of  that  restraint  and  the  superi- 
ority of  the  angel  [by  whom  Durham  understands  Christ]  over  him, 
that  he  shall  no  more  suffer  Satan  to  go  by  [beyond]  his  order  and 
march  to  see  [or  observe]  him,  than  one  shut  up  in  prison  can  go 
forth  either  by  violence  or  subtilty."t 

"  Nothing,  therefore,"  says  Marckius,  "  is  denoted  by  '  the  angel's 
having  a  great  chain  in  his  hand,'  but  the  all-sufficient  power  of 
Christ  to  bridle  Satan,  and  at  his  pleasure  to  keep  him  in,  like  a 
captive  whom  he  suffers  not  to  escape  or  to  stir.  With  this  power, 
if  you  choose  to  join  the  word  and  Spirit  of  Christ,  by  which  he  works, 
we  willingly  agree  ;  and  we  think  this  better  than  introducing  here 
[with  Paraeus  and  others]  the  whole  passion  of  Christ,  by  which  he 
obtained  authority  over  Satan.":): 

I  thinli  it  worthy  of  notice,  that  President  Edwards — 
whose  excellent  "  History  of  the  Work  of  Redemption," 
when  it  "  comes  to    show  how   the  success  of  Clirist's  re« 


*  The  historical  application  which  these  authors  make  of  the  prophecy 
is  of  no  consequence  :  it  is  their  view  of  the  symbols,  and  their  recognition 
of  the  instrumentality  of  the  truth,  in  the  binding  of  Satan,  which  I  quote 
them  for. — In  Apoc.  Comment,  ad  loc.  1612. 

t  Expos,  ad  loc.  X  In  Apoc.  Comment,  ad  loc.  1689. 

2n 


422  CONFIRMATORY    TESTIMONIES EDWARDS. 

demption  will  be  carried  on  from  the  present  time  till 
Antichrist  is  fallen  and  Satan's  visible  kingdom  on  earth 
is  destroyed,"  is  minute,  interesting,  and  scriptural — takes 
no  notice  of  the  millennial  binding  and  iyicarceraiion  of 
Satan,  as  a  distinct  and  separate  exercise  of  Chrisfs  power, 
from  those  other  strokes  by  which  his  kingdom  is  to  be 
overthrown. 

"This,"  says  he,  "is  a  work  which  will  be  accomplished  by 
means,  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  use  of  the  ordinary  means 

of  grace,  and  so  shall  be  gradually  brought  to  pass The 

Spirit  of  God  shall  be  gloriously  poured  out  for  the  wonderful 

revival  and  propagation  of  religion This  pouring  out  of 

the  Spirit  of  God  will  not  etfect  the  overthrow  of  Satan's  king- 
dom,  till   there  has   first  been  a  violent  and  mighty  opposition 

made Christ  and  his  Church  shall,  in  '  the  battle  of  that 

great  day  of  God  Almighty,'  obtain  a  complete  and  entire  victory 

over  their  enemies Consequent  on  th\s  victory,  Satan's  visible 

kingdom  on  earth  shall  be  destroyed.    When  Satan  is  conquered  in  this 

last  battle,  the  Church  of  Christ  will  have  easy  work  of  it 

When  the  devil  was  cast  out  of  the  Koman  Empire,  ....  it  was 
represented  as  Satan's  being  cast  out  of  heaven  to  the  earth  (Rev. 
xii.  9) ;  but  it  is  represented  that  he  shall  be  cast  out  of  the  earth 
too,  and  shut  up  in  hell  (Rev.  xx.  1-3).  This  is  the  greatest  revolu- 
tion by  far  that  ever  came  to  pass This  shall  put  an  end  to 

the  Church's  suffering  state,"  &c.* 

Once  more  :— 

"With  respect,"  says  Mr.  Faber,  "to  that  binding  of  Satan 
which  immediately  precedes  the  millennium,  it  must  plainly  be 
considered  as  a  transaction  not  visible  to  human  eyes.  The  power 
of  the  evil  spirit  being  effectually  restrained  through  the  well-nigh 
universal  prevalence  of  true  religion,  perhaps  also  his  seductive  influ- 
ence being  specially  coerced  by  the  direct,  though  unseen  interfer- 
ence of  the  Almighty,  he  is  said,  by  an  easy  and  natural  image,  to 
be  chained  fast,"  &c.t 

*  History  of  Redemption,  Period  III.,  Part  2,  Sect.  1. 
t  Sacred  Calendar  of  Prophecy,  vol.  ill.  p.  4G8. 


YET    NOT    URGED    CONFIDENTLY.  423 

Such  are  the  grounds  on  which  I  conceive  that  this  mil 
lennial  "binding  of  Satan"  is  not  to  be  viewed  as  a 
miraculous  physical  removal  from  the  earth  of  our  spiiitual 
adversary,  apart  altogether  from  the  ordinary  instrumen- 
tality by  which  all  previous  victories  over  him  have  been 
achieved  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  just  by  a  more  signal  forth- 
putting  of  all  these  instrumentalities  than  has  ever  yet  been 
witnessed.  And  I  have  added  a  few  extracts  that  go  to  show 
that  this  conception  of  the  matter  is  far  from  being  a 
novelty  of  my  own,  as  has  been  represented. 

Nevertheless,  it  may  be  without  sufficient  foundation  ; 
and  I  am  far  from  wishing  to  dogmatise  upon  it.  I 
leave  it  for  the  consideration  of  those  whose  familiarity 
with  the  symbolic  language  of  prophecy,  soundness  of 
judgment,  and  general  accuracy  in  conceiving  of  divine 
things,  may  enable  them  to  throw  further  light  upon  the 
subject.  In  sketching  the  leading  features  of  the  millen- 
nial period,  the  practical  bearings  of  this  point  will  come 
before  us  in  the  following  chapter,  and  supersede  the  no- 
dty  of  any  summary  here. 


CHAPTEE  YIII. 


LEADING     FEATURES    OF     THE     LATTER    DAY ITS    CLOSE,   AND 

THE    "  LITTLE  SEASON"  T 
PERSONAL    APPEARANCE. 


THE    "little  season"  TO  SUCCEED  IT,  UP  TO  TaE    LORD'S 


As  eacli  of  these  topics  has  received  more  or  less  illustra- 
tion in  the  foregoing  chapters,  it  is  but  a  brief  concluding 
sketch  that  I  intend  here. 

The  burden  of  Old  Testament  prophecy  is  "  the  suffer- 
ings    of     CHRIST     and    THE     FOLLOWING    GLORIES"    (rag    fitrt 

ravra  Jo^aj,  1  Peter  i.  11),  Or  the  glorious  results  of  these 
sufferings.  Under  this  comprehensive  title  may  be  timbraced 
all  the  prophetic  announcements  of  Messiah's  kingdom,  as 
a  kingdom  of  truth,  righteousness,  peace,  glory.  It  is 
seldom  lined  off  into  stages  of  advancement ;  and  only  in 
the  chronological  prophecies  have  we  any  thing  like  distinct 
periods  in  the  new  economy,  marked  eras  in  Christianity, 
indicated.  Messiah's  reign  is  for  the  most  part  held  forth 
as  one  magnificent  whole ;  and  though  resistance,  warfare, 
corruption,  defection,  revival,  victory,  do  at  times  chequer 
the  scene,  yet  the  prevailing  aspect  in  which  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  is  hymned  in  the  prophetic  Scriptures  is  its  fuilest 
state  of  development  upon  earth,  losing  itself  in  the 
superior  glories  of  the  celestial  and  eternal  state. 

This  remark -will  enable  us  to  correct  two  opposite  mis- 
takes. One  class  of  interpreters  see  scarcely  any  thing  but 
the  millennium  in  propJiecy ;  another  will  hardly  allow 
that  it  is  there  at  all.      Professor  Alexander^  for  example. 


UNIVERSAL  DIFFUSION  OF  REVEALED  TRUTH.       426 

in  his  admirable  critical  work  on  the  Prophecies  of  Isaiah, 
anxious  that  we  should  look  on  all  the  great  evangelical 
prophecies  as  a  whole,  is  jealous  of  the  least  attempt  to 
connect  them  with  'particular  periods  or  specific  events  in 
the  economy  of  grace ;  while  Fry^  and  even  Fraser^  say  of 
almost  every  prophecy  "  The  whole  of  this  refers  to  the 
millennium."  There  is  a  right  and  a  wrong  element  in 
both  these  views.  These  prophecies  undoubtedly  announce 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  as  a  whole ;  and,  as  the  essential 
features  of  that  kingdom  are  never  wholly  wanting  at  any 
period  under  the  gospel,  so  there  is  no  age  at  which  the 
fulfilment  of  these  evangelical  predictions  is  not  more  or 
less  realised,  and  no  Christian  who  may  not  himself  be- 
come a  living  monument  of  the  truth  of  them.  In  this  re- 
spect, therefore,  to  say  nakedly,  and  without  very  careful 
explanation,  that  this  or  that  prediction  refers  wholly  to  the 
millennium,  is  fitted  to  mislead.  At  the  same  time,  since 
it  is  impossible  to  deny  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  to 
a  great  extent  held  forth  under  a  degree  of  expansion  and 
development  which  it  has  not  yet  reached^  but  is  surely  destined 
to  attain ;  and  since  this  future  stage  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ — this  era  of  Christianity,  currently  styled  the  latter 
day — answers  to  no  period  in  the  history  of  the  world  but 
that  which  in  apocalyptic  phrase  we  call  the  millennium^  we 
are  not  to  be  restrained  from  saying  that  such  prophecies, 
in  their  full  earthly  sense,  point  to  that  wished-for  day,  and, 
in  the  loftiest  sense  of  all,  stretch  beyond  it. 

Keeping  this  remark  in  view,  I  proceed  to  notice  the  dis- 
tinguishing features  of  this  period. 

1.  It  will  be  characterised  by  the  universal  diffusion  of 
revealed  truth. 

"  The  earth  shall  he  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the 
waters  cover  the  [bed,  or  channel  of  the]  sea."     (Isa.  xi.  9.) 

"  A  very  expressive  figure,"  says  Dr.  Henderson,  "  do- 
2n  2 


426      LEADING  FEATURES  OF  LATTER  DAY 

noting  that  no  portion  of  the  inhabited  globe  shall  be  de» 
titute  of  the  true  knowledge  of  God."  "  As  much,"  says 
President  Edwards,  as  to  say,  "  as  there  is  no  part  of  the 
channel  or  cavity  of  the  sea  any  where  but  what  is  covered 
with  water,  so  there  shall  be  no  part  of  the  world  of  man- 
kind but  what  shall  be  covered  with  the  knowledge  of 
God."  What  a  change  from  the  present  state  of  the  world  ! 
— the  darkness  that  covers  large  and  densely  peopled  por- 
tions of  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  peoples,  to  fly 
before  the  light  of  revealed  truth  ; — the  dark  places  of  the 
earth  to  be  irradiated  by  the  beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness, and  have  "  li«rht  in  all  their  dwellino-s." 

"  And  he  will  destroy  in  this  mountain  the  face  of  the  covering 
that  covereth  all  peoples,  and  the  web  that  is  woven  over  all 
the  nations."    (Isa.  xxv.  7.) 

This  manifestly  contemplates  an  illumination  of  the  world, 
which,  though  in  progress  of  fulfilment  ever  since  the  gospel, 
the  rod  of  Christ's  strength,  went  forth  out  of  Zion, 
will  have  its  full  accomplishment  onl}'^  when  the  darkness 
which  every  where  broods  over  the  world  is  dispersed,  and 
the  day-spring  from  on  high  shall  pour  its  noontide  splen- 
dour over  this  wretched  world. 

2.  It  will  be  marked  by  the  universal  reception  of  the 
true  religion,  and  unlimited  subjection  to  the  sceptre  of 
Christ. 

"  Ask  of  me,  and  I  shall  give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inheri- 
tance, and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  pos- 
session." (Ps.  ii.  7.)  "  He  shall  have  dominion  from  sea 
to  sea,  and  from  the  T»ver  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
They  that  dwell  in  the  wilderness  [probably  the  wild, 
untamed,  savage  tribes]  shall  bow  before  him,  and  his  ene- 
mies shall  lick  the  dust  ["  shall  be  constrained  to  bow"J. 
The  kings  of  Tarshish  and  of  the  isles  shall  bring  presents : 
the  kings  of  Sheba  and  Seba  shall  oflfer  gifts.  Yea,  all 
kings  shall  fall  down  before  him :  all  nations  shall  serve 


ONE    RELIGION    AND    ONE    LORD  427 

him."  (Ps.  Ixxii.  8-11;  Zech.  ix.  10.)  "All  the  ends  of 
the  earth  shall  remember  and  turn  unto  the  Lord ;  and  all 
the  Idndreds  of  the  nations  shall  worship  before  thee.  For 
THE  KINGDOM  IS  THE  Lord's,  and  he  is  the  Kuler  among  the 
nations.  All  the  fat  ones  of  the  earth  shall  eat  and 
worship:*  all  they  that  go  down  to  the  dust  [every 
mortal]  shall  bow  before  him."  (Ps.  xxii.  27-29.)  "And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  that  the  mountain 
of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the 
mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills;  and  all 
nations  shall  flow  unto  it.  And  many  peoples  shall  go  and 
say,  Come  ye,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the 
Lord,  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob;  and  he  will 
teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths :  for 
out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law,  and  the  word  of  the 
Lord  from  Jerusalem."  (Isa.  ii.  2,  3.)  "  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  from  one  new-moon  to  another,  and 
from  one  sabbath  to  another,  shall  all  flesh  come  to  wor- 
ship before  me,  saith  the  Lord."  (Isa.  Ixvi.  23.)  And  the 
Lord  shall  bb  king  over  all  the  earth:  in  that  day 
shall  there  be  one  Lord,  and  his  name  one."  (Zech. 
xiv.  9.) 
"Go,  make  disciples  of  all  nations;  baptizing  them,"  &c. 
(Matt,  xxviii.  19.)  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a 
grain  of  mustard-seed,  which  indeed  is  the  least  of  all  seeds ; 
but  when  it  is  grown  it  is  the  greatest  among  herbs,  and 
becometh  a  tree,  so  that  the  birds  of  the  air  come  and  lodge 
in  the  branches  thereof"  (Matt.  xiii.  31,  32.)  "And  the 
seventh  angel  sounded,  and  there  were  great  voices  in  heaven, 
saying,  The  sovereignty  of  the  world  hath  become  our 
Lord's  and  his  Christ's,  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever  and 
EVER."    (Rev.  xi.  15.) 

What  prospects  for  the  world  are  these  !     All  the  poly- 


*  The  allusion  here,  and  in  verse  26,  is  to  the  ftast  upon  the  sacrifice 
under  the  law.  The  sacrifice  here  is  Christ  Crucified,  and  the  prediction 
is,  that  the  greatest  upon  earth  shall  enroll  themselves  members,  and 
celebrate  the  rites  of  the  Christian  Church,  professing  to  derive  all  they 
iesire  to  enjoy  from  Christ. 


428      LEADING  FEATURES  OF  LATTER  DAY — • 

theism  of  the  Pagan  nations,  with  its  cruel,  licentious,  and 
degrading  rites,  and  its  myriads  of  •'  lying  vanities,"  utterly 
abolished ;  the  Mohammedan  imposture,  by  which  millions 
are  held  enslaved,  brought  to  an  end ;  the  obstinate  un- 
belief of  the  Jews,  with  the  curse  of  God  upon  them, 
gloriously  removed  ;  the  soul-destroying  errors,  blasphe- 
mous superstitions,  idolatrous  rites,  and  cruel  despotism  of 
Popery,  which  have  sat  like  an  incubus  upon  Christendom 
for  ages,  together  with  all  deadly  heresies,  and  professed 
infidelity,  swept  away !  "  One  Lord,  one  faith,  one 
BAPTISM,"  for  the  whole  world  !  Not  that  we  are  war- 
ranted to  look  for  a  universality  of  vital  religion,  or  the 
saving  conversion  of  all  mankind.  The  reverse  is  evident 
from  many  passages,  and  will  be  made  manifest  enough 
when  the  "  little  season"  which  follows  the  millennial  period 
shall  arrive.  But  the  outward  reception  of  the  truth,  and 
professed  subjection  to  Christ,  will  be  universal.  "  The 
kingdom  of  Christ,"  to  use  the  words  of  President  Edwards, 
"  shall,  in  the  most  strict  and  literal  sense,  be  extended  to 
all  nations  and  the  whole  earth." 

3.  It  shall  be  a  time  of  universal  peace. 


"  He  shall  judge  between  ('j'^a)  the  nations,  aud  decide  for  many 
peoples ;  and  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares, 
and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks :  nation  shall  not  lift  up 
sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more." 
(Isa.  ii.  4 ;  Mic.  iv.  3.) 

"  The  wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  shall 
lie  down  with  the  kid;  and  the  calf  and  the  young  lion 
and  the  fatling  together;  and  a  little  child  shall  lead 
them.  And  the  cow  and  the  bear  shall  feed;  their  young 
ones  shall  lie  down  together;  and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw 
like  the  ox.  And  the  sucking  child  shall  play  on  the 
hole  of  the  asp,  and  the  weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand 
on  the  serpent's  den.    They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in 


UNIVERSAL    PEACE.  420 

all  my  holy  mountain :  for  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea." — Isa.  xi. 
6-9.) 

[n  the  first  of  these  passages,  the  uniyersal  peace  pre- 
dicted is  announced  as  flowing  directly  from  the  universal 
reception  of  the  truth.  "  God,"  says  Fraser,  paraphrasing 
the  verse,  "  shall  set  up  the  government  of  his  grace  over 
the  nations :  He  shall  by  it  correct  their  fierce  passions ; 
£0  that  those  who  lived  in  mutual  and  continual  enmity 
shall  mutually  embrace,  and  eagerly  promote  the  blessings 
of  peace."  Calvin  notices  the  emphasis  that  lies  in  the 
"  learning  war  no  more" — not  only  shall  they  cease  to 
practise  it,  but  even  outlive  the  use  of  arms.  The  second 
of  the  above  passages  is  taken  in  the  same  general  sense  by 
the  overwhelming  majority  of  expositors. 

"  These  words,"  says  Prebendary  Lowth — "  '  for  the  earth  shall 
be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord' — are  a  proof  that  the  expres- 
sions used  in  the  f' regoing  verses  are  metapliorical. "  "What 
was  obviously  implied,"  says  Dr.  Henderson,  "  in  the  preceding 
description  is  now  expressly  stated,  and  the  cause  of  the  wonder- 
ful change  specified — the  extension  of  the  knowledge  of  Jeho- 
vah. This  latter  circumstance  further  shows  that  the  language 
of  the  description  is  figurative."  '•  The  selfish,"  says  Scott, 
*'  the  penurious,  the  rapacious,  the  contentious,  the  ambitious, 
the  savage,  the  subtile,  and  the  malicious,  would  lose  their 
peculiar  base  dispositions,  and  become  harmless,  sincere,  peace- 
able, benevolent  and  affectionate;  they  would  live  together  in 
harmony,  hearken  to  instruction,  and  be  guided  by  gentle  per- 
suasions and  entreaties.  So  that  the  change  would  be  as  evi- 
dent and  surprising,  as  if  the  wolf,  the  tiger,  the  lion,  the  bear, 
and  other  fierce  carnivorous  animals,  should  learn  to  be  gentle 
and  harmless  as  the  lamb,  the  kid,  the  calf,  or  the  cow ;  to  associate 
with  them,  to  graze  the  pasture  as  they  do,  or  to  feed  on  hay  and 
straw :  and  should  be  so  tractable  that  a  little  child  could  lead 
them,"  &c.    "  Vltringa  gives,"  says  P  -ofessor  Alexander,  "  a  specific 


430  LEADING    FEATURES    OF    LATTER    DAY 

meaning  to  each  figure  in  the  landscape This  kind  of  exposi* 

tion  not  only  mars  the  beauty,  but  obscures  the  real  meaning  of  the 
prophecy."* 

Before  lea^'ng  this  last  passage,  let  the  reader  observe 
the  absurdity  of  taking  "  God's  holy  mountain"  (Zion) 
literally  here.  To  say  that  they  should  "not  hurt  nor 
destroy  in  alV^ — that  insignificant  elevation  called  Zion, 
in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  especially  to  say  that  the 
piiet  of  this  petty  rising  ground  would  be  owing  to  "  the 
earth  being  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea,"  is  so  exceedingly  puerile,  that  one 
can  only  stand  amazed  at  the  tenacious  consistency  of  the 
literalists  in  going  through  with  their  principle  of  interpre- 
tation in  this  instance.  But  if  we  take  "  Grod's  holy 
mountain" — which  at  that  time  was  the  centre  of  the  true 
religion,  the  meeting-place  of  Johovah  and  his  reconciled 
people,  where  he  "  communed  with  them  from  above  the 
mercy-seat  and  from  between  the  cherubim,"  through  the 
sprinkling  of  blood — as  a  familiar  and  endeared  name  for 
the  Church  or  kingdom  of  Messiah,  yet  to  be  co-extensive 
with  the  earth  itself,  all  is  plain.  When  the  knowledge  of 
the  Lord  shall  settle  down  upon  every  region,  every  spot  of 
the  earth,  as  the  bed  of  the  ocean  is  occupied  and  over- 

*  I  commend  this  remark  of  Professor  Alexander  to  Mr.  H.  Bonar. 
Though  he  exposes,  not  without  success,  some  attempts  to  assign  a  dis- 
tinct spiritual  idea  to  each  of  these  figures,  he  does  not  thereby  overthrow 
the  figurative  sense  of  the  prophecy.  Calvin  and  Hengstenberg  think 
there  is  in  the  prophecy  an  ultimate  reference  to  the  deliverance  of  a 
groaning  creation  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty 
of  the  children  of  God.  "Possibly  there  is,'"  says  Alexander,  while 
Henderson  considers  it  "  in  the  last  degree  improbable  "  For  myself, 
observing  how  the  Lord  and  his  apc^tles  stretch  their  views  of  the  pro- 
phecies over  the  head  of  all  the  changing  conditions  of  the  earth  and  of 
the  Church  into  the  final,  everlasting  state,  I  should  be  disposed  to  saj 
with  Professor  Alexander,  provided  it  be  allowed  that  the  peaceful  clicrac- 
ter  of  Messiah' s  reign  is  the  direct  subject  of  the  prophecy. 


SPIRITUAL    POWER    AND    GLORY.  431 

spread  by  its  mighty  waters, — when  it  shall  work  itself 
into  the  texture  of  human  society  all  over  the  world,  uni- 
versal peace  shall  come  in  its  train. 

4.  It  will  be  distinguished  by  much  spiritual  power  and 
glory. 

Under  this  general  expression  I  include  copious  effusions 
of  the  Spirit,  saving  conversion  on  a  scale  hitherto  unpa- 
ralleled, ecclesiastical  unity  and  peace,  spiritual  prosperity, 
shining  ordinances,  bright  tokens  of  the  Lord's  presence 
with  his  people,  as  well  in  their  secular  as  sacred  occu- 
pations. On  this  head  I  refrain  from  quoting  passages, 
just  because  every  description  of  the  fruit  of  Christ's  suf- 
ferings, of  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  of  the  conquests  of  grace, 
of  the  Lord's  presence  with  his  people,  and  the  light,  life, 
freedom,  purity,  and  joy,  resulting  from  it,  will  then  be 
realized  to  an  extent  before  unknown. 

Let  us  suppose  what  President  Edwards  describes  as  the 
state  of  the  little  town  of  Northampton,  in  New  England, 
during  the  revival  which  visited  it  under  his  ministry, 
to  spread  from  town  to  town,  from  country  to  country 
from  continent  to  continent — place  after  place  catching  the 
blessed  gales  of  the  Spirit,  and  •'  the  spices"  of  a  universal 
"garden  of  the  Lord"  "  flowing  out." 

"Presently  upon  this,"  says  thit  distinguished  man,  "a  great 
and  earnest  concern  about  the  great  things  of  religion  and  the 
eternal  world  became  universal  in  all  parts  of  the  town,  and 
among  persons  of  all  degrees  and  ages ;  the  noise  among  the  dry 
bones  waxed  louder  and  louder :  all  other  talk  but  about  spiri- 
tual and  eternal  things  way  soon  thrown  by ;  all  the  conversation 
in  all  companies,  and  upon  all  occasions,  was  about  these  things 
only,  unless  what  was  necessary  for  carrying  on  their  ordinary 
secular  business.  They  seemed  to  follow  their  worldly  business 
more  as  a  part  of  their  duty,  than  from  any  disposition  they  had 
to  it.  The  only  thing  in  their  view  was  to  get  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  eveiy  one  appeared  pressing  into  it:   the  engaged- 


LEADING  FEATURES  OF  LATTER  DAY 

ness  of  their  hearts  in  this  great  concern  could  not  be  hid ;  it 
appeared  in  their  very  countenances.  The  work  of  conversion 
was  carried  on  in  a  most  astonishing  manner,  and  increased  more 
and  more;  souls  did,  as  it  were,  come  by  flocks  to  Jesus  Christ. 
From  day  to  day,  for  many  months  together,  might  be  seen  evi- 
dent instances  of  sinners  brought  out  of  darkness  into  marvellous 
light,  and  delivered  out  of  a  horrible  pit  and  from  the  miry  clay, 
and  set  upon  a  rock,  with  a  new  song  of  praise  to  God  in  their 
mouths.  This  work  of  God,  as  it  was  carried  on  and  the  num- 
ber of  true  saints  multiplied,  soon  made  a  glorious  alteration  in 
the  town ;  so  that  in  the  spring  and  summer  following,  in  the 
year  1735,  the  town  seemed  to  be  full  of  the  presence  of  God: 
it  never  was  so  full  of  love  and  joy,  and  yet  so  full  of  distress, 
as  it  was  then.  There  were  remarkable  tokens  of  God's  presence  in 
almost  every  house.  It  was  a  time  of  joy  in  families,  on  account  of 
salvation  being  brought  to  them ;  parents  rejoici7ig  over  their  children  as 
7iew-born,  arid  husbands  ever  their  loives,  arid  wives  over  their  husband:^. 
The  goings  of  God  were  then  seen  in  his  sanctuary;  God's  day 
was  a  delight,  and  his  tabernacles  were  amiable.  Our  public 
assemblies  were  then  beautiful;  the  congregation  was  alive  in 
God's  service.  In  all  companies,  on  other  days,  on  whatever  oc- 
casions persons  met,  Christ  was  to  be  heard  and  seen  in  the  midst 
OF  them.  Our  young  people,  when  they  met,  were  wont  to  spend 
the  time  in  talking  of  the  excellency  and  dying  love  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  gloriousness  of  the  way  of  salvation,  the  wonderful, 
free,  and  sovereign  grace  of  God,  his  glorious  work  in  the  con- 
version of  a  soul,  the  truth  and  certainty  of  the  great  things  of 
God's  word,  &c.  Those  amongst  us  that  had  been  formerly  converted 
were  greatly  enlivened  and  renewed,  with  fresh  and  extraordinary  visitO' 
lions  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Strangers  were  generally  sui-prised  to 
find  things  so  much  beyond  what  they  had  heard,  and  were  wont 
to  tell  others  that  the  state  of  the  town  could  not  be  conceived 
of  by  those  that  had  not  seen  it.  This  seems  to  have  been  a 
very  extraordinary  dispensation  of  Providence.  God  has  in 
many  respects  gone  out  of,  and  much  beyond,  his  usual  and  or- 
dinary way.  The  work  in  this  town,  and  some  others  about  us, 
has  been  extraordinary  on  account  of  the  universality  of  it,  affect- 
ing all  sorts  of  persons,  sober  and  vicious,  high  and  low,  rich 
and  poor,  wise  and  unwise.  A  loose,  careless  person  could  scarcely 
find  another  in  the  whole  neighbourhood;  and  if  there  was  any  on« 


IN-BRINGING    OF    ALL    ISRAEL.  433 

that  seemed  to  remain  senseless  or  unconcerned,  it  would  be  spoken 
of  as  a  strange  thing-."  * 

The  worthy  author  calls  this,  as  he  might  well  do,  "  a 
verj  extraordinary  dispensation  of  nrovidence."  But  what  if 
it  should  yet  become  "  a  very  ardiJiary  dispensation  of  pro- 
vidence ?"  "  God  (says  he)  went  in  many  respects  out  of 
arid  much  bei/ond  his  usual  and  ordinary  way."  But  if 
this  very  thing  should  become,  in  the  latter  day,  "his  usual 
and  ordinary  way,"  what  will  his  "  very  extraordinary  dis- 
pensations of  providence"  be — those  exceedings  of  his  ordi- 
nary Self,  when  he  goes,  as  we  have  no  reason  to  think 
but  he  will  go,  "  out  of  and  much  beyond"  this  ?  And 
how  else  can  it  well  be  imagined  that  those  glorious  results 
are  to  come  to  pass,  which  we  are  taught  to  look  for  in 
Buch  texts  as  the  following :  "  Who  hath  heard  such  a 
thing?  who  hath  seen  such  things?  Shall  the  earth  be 
made  to  bring  forth  in  one  day  ?  or  shall  a  nation  be  born 
at  once?  For  as  soon  as  Zion  travailed,  she  brought  forth 
her  children."  "  A  little  one  shall  become  a  thousand,  and 
a  small  one  a  strong  nation :  I  the  Lord  will  hasten  it  in 
its  time." — (Isa  Ixvi.  8  ;  Ix.  22.) 

5.  The  in-bringing  of  ^^  all  IsraeV^  will  signalise  that 
day. 

The  Old  Testament  evidence  on  this  subject  has  been 
much  controverted,  but  it  is  sufficiently  evident  even  from 
the  New.  Without  quoting  those  passages  which  in  my 
judgment  imply,  though  they  do  not  explicitly  announce, 
a  general  conversion  of  the  natural  Israel,!  I  rest  on  the 
following  passage : 


♦  Narrative  of  the  Revival  of  Religion  in  New  England,  pp.  65-68,  74. 
Collins'  Edit.     1829. 

t  I  refer  to  Matthew  xxiii.  39;  Luke  xxi.  24;  Acts  i.  6,  7;  (iii  191)j 
2  Cor.  iii.  15,  16. 

2o 


434      LEADING  FEATURES  OF  LATTER  DAY 

Eoin.  xi.  26-29 :  "  And  so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved :  as  il  w 
written,  There  shall  come  out  of  Sion  the  Deliverer,  and 
shall  turn  an-ay  ungodliness  from  Jacob  :  for  this  is  my  cove- 
nant unto  them,  when  I  shall  take  away  their  sins.  As  con- 
cerning the  gospel,  they  are  enemies  for  your  sakes :  but  as 
touching  the  election,  they  are  beloved  for  the  fathers' 
sakes.    For  the  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without  repent- 


In  this  chapter  the  apostle  teaches  that  the  rejection  of 
God's  ancient  people  under  the  gospel  is  to  be  taken  with 
two  limitations  :  first,  that  "  even  at  this  present  time  (the 
period  of  rejection)  there  is  a  remnant  according  to  the 
election  of  grace  ;"  and  next,  that  the  peofle  at  large — the 
bulk  and  body  of  the  nation — as  contradistinguished  from 
this  elect  remnant,  shall  yet  be  brought  in.  In  proof  of 
this,  the  apostle  carries  us  back  not  only  to  the  prophets — 
to  Isaiah  (lix.  20),  and  Jeremiah  (xxxi,  31-34) — but  to 
the  Abrahamic  covenant  itself  "  As  touching  the  election 
(of  Abraham  and  his  seed),  they  are  beloved  for  the  fathers' 
sake" — dear  to  God  because  of  their  ancestral  connections, 
their  lineal  descent  from  and  oneness  in  covenant  with  those 
"  fathers"  with  whom  God  originally  established  his  cove- 
nant. "  For  (adds  the  apostle)  the  gifts  and  callings  of 
God  (referring  to  the  covenant  with  Abraham)  are  without 
repentance."* 

Let  the  reader  but  try  to  realize  what  their  conversion  will 


*  If  this  perpetuity  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  as  respects  the  natural 
seed,  be  admitted  on  the  authority  of  the  apostle,  it  will  be  difBcnlt,  I 
think,  to  avoid  admitting  their  territorial  restoration  ;  the  people  and  the 
LAND  of  Israel  being  so  connected  in  numerous  prophecies  of  the  Old 
Testament,  that  whatever  literality  and  perpetuity  are  ascribed  to  the 
cne,  must,  one  would  think,  on  all  strict  principles  of  interpretation,  bo 
attributed  to  the  other  also.  Without  entering,  however,  on  that  ques- 
tion here,  I  beg  to  refer  to  Lowers  Magazine  for  October,  November,  and 
December  1847,  in  which  the  question  is  handled  at  some  length. 


IN-BRINGING    OF    ALL    ISRAEL.  43S 

be  as  held  forth  to  us  in  the  sure  word  of  prophecy.     Take, 
for  example,  Zeehariah's  well-known  description  of  it  : 

^'And  ]  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and  v^on  the  inhabitanti 
of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplications :  and  they 

SHALL  LOOK  UPON  ME  WHOM  THEY  HAVE  PIERCED,  AND  THEY 

SHALL  MOURN  FOR  HIM,  as  oiie  mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and 
shall  he  in  bitterness  for  him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his 
first-barn.  In  that  day  shall  there  be  a  great  mourning  in  Jeru- 
saZem,  as  the  mo^trning  of  Hadadrimmon  in  the  valley  of  Mcgiddon. 

In  THAT  DAY  THERE  SHALL  BE  A  FOUNTAIN  OPENED  TO  THE 

HOUSE  OF  David  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  for 
SIN  AND  FOR  UNCLEANNEss." — (Zech.  xii.  10;  xiu.  1.) 

The  first  step  in  the  wondrous  process  here  described  is 
the  descent  of  the  Spirit  upon  them  nationally^  and  in  his 
proper  relation  to  Jesus,  whom  it  is  his  ofiice  and  delight 
to  "  glorify"  ia  the  souls  of  men.  And  first  he  comes  upon 
them  as  a  ''  spirit  of  grace^''  to  which  they  are  ''  twice 
dead" — devoid  of  it,  as  all  are  by  nature,  but  over  and 
above  this  judicially  graceless,  if  we  may  so  express  it. 
This  will  bring  them  into  a  convinced,  humbled,  anxious 
state — a  state  of  gracious  broken-heartedness,  prompting 
them  to  "  confess  their  iniquity,  and  the  iniquity  of  their 
fathers,  and  that  they  have  walked  contrary  to  the  Lord, 
and  that  He  also  hath  walked  contrary  to  them,  and  hath 
brought  them  into  the  land  of  their  enemies.  Their  un- 
circumcised  hearts  shall  thus  be  humbled,  and  they  shall 
accept  the  punishment  of  their  iniquity."  But  along  with 
this  he  shall  come  as  a  "  spirit  of  supplications^^  leading 
them  "  out  of  the  depths  to  cry  unto  God"  for  mercy  and 
light.  In  this  frame,  "  their  heart  now  turned  to  the 
Lord,  the  vail  drops  from  their  eyes"  (2  Cor.  iii.  14-18), 
and  au  object  of  surpassing  glory,  yet  to  them  of  startling 
and  heart-breaking  aspect,  stands  confessed  before  their 
view.      It  is   Jesus.      "  They   look"    (by  faith)   on   Him 


436     LEADING  FEATURES  OF  LATTER  DAY 

whom  they  had  pierced — pierced  as  no  others  had  ever 
pierced  him;  and  discerning  now  in  that  bleeding  Saviour, 
under  the  overpow^ering  teaching  and  grace  of  the  Spirit, 
their  own  very  Messiah,  their  hearts  melt  within  them, 
their  repentings  are  kindled  together,  and  they  mourn  for 
him  as  one  mourneth  for  an  only  son,  and  are  in  bitterness 
ns  for  a  first-born.  Once  He  came  to  his  own,  and  his 
own  received  him  not.  But  "at  the  second  time  Joseph 
shall  be  made  known  to  his  brethren  ;  and  the  house  of 
Pharaoh  shall  hear  the  weeping,"  as  one  has  touchingly 
said.  O  what  an  unexampled  mourning  will  that  be  !  for 
its  intensity — "  as  the  mourning  of  Hadadrimmon  ;"  for  its 
universality — '•  the  land  shall  mourn  ;"  for  its  individuality 
— "all  the  families  that  remain,  every  family  apart,  and 
their  wives  apart."  But  the  most  glorious  feature  of  it 
will  be  its  evangelical  churacter.  It  will  be  the  pure  fruit 
of  a  believing  "  look  upon  Him  whom  they  have  pierced." 
As  when  the  Lord  turned  and  looked  upon  Peter,  he  went 
out  and  wept  bitterly ;  so  that  look  on  a  bleeding  Saviour 
— pierced  by  their  own  hands — wounded  thus  in  the  house 
of  his  friends — will  open  the  sluices  of  their  heart's  deepest 
and  purest  emotions.  Their  head  will  be  waters,  and  their 
eyes  a  fountain  of  tears.  And  0,  when  they  see  that  blood 
which  as  a  nation  they  murderously  shed,  turned  into  a 
fountain  open  to  themselves  for  sin  and  for  un cleanness — 
when  they  find  their  robes  washed  and  made  white  in  that 
very  blood  of  the  Lamb — how  will  they  water  a  free  pardon 
with  their  tears,  ho  rt  generously  will  they  detest  forgiven 
sin  (to  use  Dr.  Owen's  words),  how  will  they  be  disposed 
to  exclaim  to  their  Gentile  brethren  every  where,  "  Come, 
hear,  all  ye  that  fear  God,  and  I  will  declare  what  he  hath 
done  for  my  soul  !"  0  for  the  apostle's  spirit  of  great  sor- 
row and  continual  heaviness  of  heart  for  them,  ••  of  whom 
as  concerning  the  flesh,  Christ  came,"  and  for  his  glowing 


ASCENDENCY    OF    TRUTH    AND    RIGHTEOUSNESS.    43*5 

expectations  of  the  benefit  ourselves  as  Gentiles  would  ex 
perience  from  their  conversion  !  And  the  drops  of  that 
spirit  are  certainly  falling  upon  the  churches.  But  showers 
are  needed.  "  Upon  the  land  of  my  people  shall  come  up 
thorns  and  briars — until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us  from 
on  high  /"     But  "  I  the  Lord  will  hasten  it  in  its  time." 

6.  The  ascendency  of  truth  and  righteousness  in  human 
affairs  will  distinguish  that  day. 

This  has  been  so  frequently  and  fully  adverted  to  in  the 
foregoing  chapters,  that  any  thing  said  on  it  here  would  be 
but  repetition.  Let  it  suffice  to  refer  to  the  following 
among  the  multitude  of  passages  which  express  this : — 

"  There  was  given  to  the  Son  of  Man  dominion,  and  glory,  and 
a  kingdom,  that  all   people,  and  nations,  and  languages,  should 

serve  him Judgment  was  given  to  the  saints  of 

the  Most  High ;  and  the  time  came  that  the  saints  possessed  the 

kingdom And  the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the 

greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  should  be 
given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High."  (Dan.  vii. 
14,  22,  27.)  "  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them,  and  judg- 
ment was  given  unto  them:  and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  that 
were  beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of 
God,  and  such  as  had  not  Avorshipped  the  beast,  neither  his 
image,  neither  had  received  his  mark  upon  their  foreheads  and 
on  their  hands  ;  and  they  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thou- 
sand years They  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of  Christ, 

and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thousand  years.  (Rev.  xx.  4,  6.) 
"We  shall  reign  on  the  earth,"  (chap.  v.  10,)*    "  All  kings  shall 


♦  Nentiquam  intelligenda  est  [haec  pericopa]  de  tempore  Judicium 
secuturo,  cum  seternitas  laeta  incoelis  turn  git  agenda;  neque  de  regno 
mundano  et  corporali . .  .  sed  de  communis  fidelibus  omnibus  regni  spiri- 
tualisexercitioin  omnium  popsessione,  sui  gubernatione  juxta  Dei  legem 
belle  gesto  contra  hostes  cum  successu  laeto,  judicio  denique  deiis;  quae, 
omnia  in  hac  terra  obtinent,  et  obtinebunt  illustrius  in  laetiori  quem  ex- 
pectamus  Ecclesiae  statu,  illustrissime  autem  in  novissimo  Christi  ad* 
ventu.     (Marckius,  ad  loe.) 

Quae  pericopa  necessario  intelligenda  est  de  illo  statu,  quo  '*  judiciuia 
2o2 


438  LEADING    FEATURES    OF    LATTER    DAY 

fall  down  before   him ;    all    nations    shall    serve    him 

Men  shall  be  blessed  in  him;  all  nations  shall  call  him 
blessed."  (Psalm  Ixxii.  11,  17.)  "  The  Lord  shall  be  king  over 
nil  the  earth."  (Zech.  xiv.  9.)  "  The  nation  and  kingdom  that 
will  not  serve  thee*  shall  perish ;  yea,  those  nations  shall  utterly 
perish."  (Isa.  Ix.  12.)  "  All  the  ends  of  the  earth  shall  remember 
and  turn  unto  the  Lord ;  and  all  the  kindreds  of  the  nations  shall 
worship  before  thee.  All  the  fat  ones  of  the  earth  shall  eat  and 
worship,"  &c.  (Psalm  xxii.  27,  29.)  "  Instead  of  thy  fathers  shall 
be  thy  children,  whom,  thou  mayest  rnake  princes  in  all  the  earth." — 
(Psalm  xlv.  16.) 

By  this  last  prediction  I  understand  the  same  thing  as 
in  Daniel,  "  the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness 
of  the  WngdiOva  under  the  whole  heaven^''  being  '-'•given  to 
the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High."  In  that  golden 
Psalm,  the  Bride  of  Christ  was  exhorted  to  "  forget  her 
own  people  and  her  father's  house,"  on  her  union  to  "  the 
King,"  and  assured  she  shall  have  rich  compensation  for 
all  the  natural  delights  which  she  abandons ;  for  she  shall 
have  a  glorious  progeny  of  her  own,  who  shall  yet  rule  the 
world. 

"It  shall  be,"  says  Edwards,   "a  time  wherein  religion  shall 

tradendum  erat  Sanctis"  de  quo  Daniel  (vii.  27).  .  .  Praeviderunt  sancti, 
et  ex  Oraculis  perspexerunt,  aliquando  eventurum  esse,  ut  Christiana 
Religio  in  orbe  caput  extollcret  et  suppressis  religionibus  falsis  et  super- 
stitiosis,  in  ipso  Romano  imperio  summam  obtineret  auctoritatem.  Quae 
res,  si  tenuissima  Christianismi  initia  contemplemur,  et  illorum  condi- 
tionem  temporum,  plane  videbatur  incredibilis,  et  omni  spe  major. 
Sancti  tamen,  verbo  Dei  eruditi,  magnam  banc  rerum  catastrophen,  quaa 
tandem  efTectum  sortiri  coepit  sub  Constantino,  praeviderunt,  et  spe  sua 
anticiparunt ;  et  id  ipsum  vel  maxime  et  hac  Revelatione  discere  cupi- 
verunt.  Unde  itaque  clarissime  liquet  scenam  ccelestem  quae  hie  exhibe- 
tur,  exponendam,  esse  de  statu  Ecdesice  ut  se  habet  in  his  terris. — (V'l- 
TRiNGA,  ad  loc.) 

*  That  is,  the  Church  of  God,  consisting  of  the  natural  Israel  under 
Christ,  and  the  believing  Gentiles  '♦  grafted  into"  their  "  good  olive  tree;*' 
not  to  "  serve,"  or  refuse  to  join  themselves  to  it,  and  conduct  all  theii 
iffairs  o»i   ts  principles,  will  be  their  ruin. 


TEMPORAL    PROSPERITY.  439 

in  every  respect  be  uppermost  in  the  world.  It  shall  be  had  in 
great  esteem  and  honour.  The  saints  have  hitherto  for  the 
most  part  been  kept  under,  and  wicked  men  have  governed. 
But  now  they  will  be  uppermost.  The  kingdom  shall  be  'given 
into  the  hands  of  the  saints  of  the  most  High  God'  (Dan.  vii. 
27),  and  '  they  shall  reign  on  earth '  (Rev.  v.  10).  '  They  shall  live 
and  reign  with  Christ  a  thousand  years'  (Rev.  xx.  4).  In  that 
day  such  persons  as  are  eminent  for  piety  and  religion  shall  be 
chiefly  promoted  to  places  of  trust  and  authority.  Vital  religion 
shall  then  take  possession  of  kings'  palaces  and  thrones,  and 
those  who  are  in  highest  advancement  shall  be  holy  men.  (Isa, 
xlix.  23).  '  And  kings  shall  be  thy  nursing  fathers,  and  their 
queens  thy  nursing  mothers.'  Kings  shall  employ  all  their 
power  and  glory  and  riches  for  the  advancement  of  the  honour 
and  glory  of  Christ,  and  the  good  of  his  Church  :  Isa.  Ix.  16, 
*Thou  shalt  suck  the  milk  of  the  Gentiles,  and  shalt  suck  the 
breast  of  kings.'  And  the  great  men  of  the  world,  and  the  rich 
merchants,  and  others  who  have  great  wealth  and  influence,  shall 
devote  all  to  Christ  and  his  Church  :  Ps.  xlv.  12,  '  The  daughter  of 
Tyre  shall  be  there  with  a  gift;  even  the  rich  among  the  people 
shall  entreat  thy  favour.'  "* 

A  prospect  this,  so  different  from  any  thing  hitherto 
seen,  that  one  could  gladly  expatiate  upon  it.  But  I  must 
hasten  to  notice  one  other  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
latter  day. 

7.  It  will  be  characterised  by  great  temporal  prosperity. 

Here  also  it  is  unnecessary  to  quote  passages.  For  if 
"  godliness  be  profitable  for  all  things,  having  promise  of 
the  life  that  now  is"  as  well  as  "  of  that  which  is  to 
come"  ( 1  Tim.  iv.  8) ;  if  "  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto"  those  who  "  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness"  (Matt.  vi.  33) ;  if  all  temporal  blessings,  in 
short,  are  expressly  and  in  numerous  prophecies  repre- 
sented as  coming  in  the  train  of  the  new  covenant  bless- 
ings— can  it  for  a  moment  be  doubted  that  when  the  six 

♦  History  of  Redemption,  Period  3,  Part  2,  Sect.  1. 


440  SETTING    OF    THE    MILLENNIAL    SUN. 

foregoing  characteristics  of  the  latter  day  shall  be  realised 
this  seventh  one  will  find  its  place  ?  "  Then  shall  the 
earth  yield  her  increase,  and  God,  even  our  own  God,  shall 
bless  us." — (Ps.  Ixvii.  6.)* 

"  We  need  not,"  says  Fraser,  "  have  recourse  to  that  miraculoua 
fniitfulness  of  the  earth  which  Papias  feigned,  in  order  to  fulfil 
this  prophecy.  Plenty  is  the  natural  consequence  of  the  moral 
change  which  takes  place  in  the  world  at  the  millennimxi.  The 
imiversal  righteousness  of  that  happy  period  will  prevent  des- 
potism in  government,  anarchy  in  the  people,  as  well  as  the 
devastations  of  war,  by  which  the  earth  is  left  uncultivated,  or  its 
produce  is  destroyed.  The  religion  of  that  period  will  civilise 
savages,  and  destroy  among  civilised  nations  the  numerous  occu- 
pations that  minister  to  the  lawless  passions  of  men  ;  thus 
directing  a  great  multitude  of  the  human  race  to  the  useful  arts 
of  agriculture,  who  had  been  formerly  idle,  and  a  burden  upon 
the  labours  of  others.  The  love  universally  felt  and  practised 
in  that  period,  will  lead  those  who  have  abundance  to  distribute 
cheerfully  and  freely  to  the  necessities  of  those  who  may  be  in 
need."t 

But  the  sun  of  this  bright  day  is  destined  to  set — 
graditally,  doubtless,  as  gradually  it  shall  rise.  That  it 
will  follow  the  usual  laws  of  spiritual  decline,  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe.  The  church  of  Ephesus  seems  to 
have  retained  for  thirty  years  every  external  mark  of  pros- 
perity.    "  I  know  thy  works" — said  Jesus  to  that  church 


♦  See  for  example,  Isa.  xxx.  23,  24 ;  Jar.  xxxi.  12 ;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  26, 
27;  xxxvi.  29,  30-38;  Amos  ix.  13;  Zech.  viii.  12.— It  is  of  Mttle  conse- 
quence whether  we  refer  these  prophecies  to  a  past  time,  to  a  future 
time,  or  to  no  particular  time, — considering  them  as  fulfilled  whenever 
the  spiritual  state  to  which  these  blessings  are  tied  in  the  prophecies  is 
realised,  and  just  in  proportion  as  it  is  realised.  For  even  on  this  last 
view  they  must  have  an  ample  fulfilment  in  the  latter  day,  because  then 
the  necessary  conditions  will  be  to  a  very  large  extent  realised. 

t  Key  to  the  Prophecies  p.  429. 


THE    DECLINE    GRADUAL.  441 

from  the  skies — "  and  thy  labour,  and  thy  patience,  and 
how  thou  canst  not  bear  them  which  are  evil :  and  thou 
hast  tried  them  which  say  they  are  apostles,  and  are  not. 
and  hast  found  them  liars :  and  thou  hast  patience,  an(J[ 
hast  borne,*  for  my  name's  sake,  and  hast  not  been 
weary,"t — (Rev.  ii.  2,  3.)  What  more  could  have  been 
paid  to  the  commendation  of  a  church  than  this  1 
Nothing,  one  should  think.  Yet  was  there  a  worm  at 
the  root  of  all :  "  Nevertheless  I  have  this  against 
thee,  that  thou  hast  left  thy  first  love'^  (verse  4).  How 
deep  a  descent  was  implied  in  this,  is  but  too  evident 
from  what  follows :  "  Remember,  therefore,  from  whence 
thou  a.rt  fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  the  first  works'''  (verse  5). 
The  "  works"  seem  to  be  all  there,  but,  not  done  under  the 
promptings  of  their  "  first  love,"  they  were  not  "  the  first 
works ;"  and  the  threatening,  "  I  will  come  unto  thee 
quickly,  and  remove  thy  candlestick,  except  thou  repent," 
shows  how  near  they  were,  amidst  all  their  seeming  prospe- 
rity, to  a  fatal  decline,  when  the  animating  principle  of 
love  was  at  so  low  an  ebb.  What  then  have  we  to  suppose, 
but  that  towards  the  close  of  the  latter  day  an  Ephesine 
spirit  shall  steal  over  the  Church  ;  her  activities  in  well- 
doing not  sensibly  diminished — her  universal  consistency 
much  as  it  was — but  springing  now  not  so  much  from  the 
warmth  of  present  affection  as  from  the  mechanism  of 
habit,  and  lingering  recollections  of  the  past.  The  jealoug 
Lord  of  the  Church  is  now  toiicljed,  and  his  Spirit  grieved, 
the  withdrawal  of  whose  sensible  presence  in  divine  ordi- 
nances, and  gracious  operations  in  the  whole  circle  of  Chris- 
tian duties,  will  of  course  accelerate  the  decline.  "  Our  Be- 
loved has  withdrawn  himself  aid  is  gone."  No  more  will 
he  "commune  with  them,"   as  he  was  wont,  "from  above 

♦  The  best  MSS.  reverse  '.he  order  of  these  verbs, 
f  HKoiriUKas,  or  tKOTTiaajii    for  KeKjitfxas. 


442  8ATAN    AT    LENGTH    LET    LOOSE. 

the  mercy-seat,  and  from  between  the  cherubim  ;"  for  "  th« 
glory  of  the  Lord  has  gone  up  from  the  cherub."  "  The 
foundation  of  God,  indeed,  standeth  sure  ;  having  this  seal, 
The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his."  But  "they  are  not 
all  Israel  that  are  of  Israel,"  even  during  the  millennium  ; 
and  this  will  now  be  sadly  seen.  Settling  upon  her  lees, 
her  external  prosperity  proving  a  snare  to  her — secularity 
in  the  Church  takes  the  place  of  spirituality,  inconsisten- 
cies increasingly  appear,  and  her  influence  for  good  upon 
the  world  at  large  grows  less  and  less  And  just  as  on  a 
small  scale,  in  some  little  community  like  that  of  Northamp- 
ton^ as  described  by  Edwards,  after  the  remarkable  sense 
of  God's  presence  over  the  whole  town  had  begun  to  wax 
feeble,  the  still  unconverted  portion  of  it,  though  subdued 
and  seemingly  won  over  to  Christ,  would,  by  little  and 
little,  recover  themselves,  and  at  length  venture  forth  in 
their  true  character — so  will  it  be,  in  all  probability,  on  a 
vast  scale  at  the  close  of  the  latter  day.  The  unconverted 
portion  of  the  world — long  constrained  by  the  religious 
influences  every  where  surrounding  them  to  fall  in  with 
the  spirit  of  the  day,  catching  apparently  its  holy  impulses, 
but  never  coming  savingly  under  its  power —  this  portion  of 
mankind,  which  we  have  reason  to  fear  will  not  be  small, 
will  now  be  freed  from  these  irksome  restraints,  no  longer 
obliged  to  breathe  an  atmosphere  uncongenial  to  their 
nature,  and  "  feign  submission."  Now,  "  the  lust  of  the 
flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life" — never  slain 
— will  re-assert  their  claims  with  an  urgency  proportioned 
to  the  restraints  till  now  placed  upon  them  by  victorious 
spirituality,  and  with  a  success  proportioned  to  the  dimi- 
nished power  and  inclination  to  resist  them.  And  then 
will  the  Lord  be  provoked  to  let  loose  upon  them  "the 
roaring  lion."  Though,  of  themselves,  they  have  already 
^^  given   'place  to  the  devil,"  yet  his  every  motion  is,  and 


THE    "LITTLE    SEASON."  443 

ii\er  has  been,  under  higher  control.  Now,  he  is  at  once 
morally  and  judicially  free.  "  The  house  from  whence  he 
went  out  (or  was  put  out)  is  empty,  swept,  and  garnished' 
— unoccupied  by  his  Rival  and  ready  waiting  his  return. 

"When  the  thousand  years  are  expired,  Satan  shall  be  loosed 
out  of  his  prison — for  a  little  season — and  shall  go  out  to 
deceive  the  nations  which  are  in  the  four  quarters  of  the 
earth,  Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather  them  together  to  battle : 
the  number  of  whom  is  as  the  sand  of  the  sea.  And  they 
went  up  on  the  breadth  of  the  earth,  and  compassed  the 
camp  of  the  saints  about,  and  the  beloved  city :  and  fire 
came  do\vn  out  of  heaven  from  God,  and  devoured  them." 
(Rev.  XX.  7,  3,  8,  9.) 

Many  writers  seem  to  think,  that  the  whole  of  what  is 
here  described  will  be  accomplished  with  such  rapidity  as 
not  to  deserve  the  name  of  a  period  in  Church  history. 
For  this,  however,  there  is  no  ground,  either  in  the  pas- 
sage itself  or  in  any  analogy  from  past  experience.  The 
"  little  seasorC^  expressly  assigned  to  these  movements 
plainly  shows  it  to  be  a  distinct  period ;  and  as  it  is  men- 
tioned in  immediate  connexion  with  the  thousand  years, 
and  as  following  directly  on  it,  we  must  take  its  "  littleness" 
in  point  of  duration,  relatively  to  that  lo7ig  period.  Were 
it  to  extend  through  one,  two,  or  three  centuries,  it  would 
still  be  comparatively  "  little,"  if  we  take  the  other  period 
for  a  literal  millennium. 

"  Since  it  cannot  be  imagined,"  says  Faher,  "  that  the  whole 
world  will  plunge  at  once  from  piety  to  impiety,  both  common 
sense  and  general  experience  may  teach  us  that  a  considerable 
time  will  elapse  ere  the  children  of  men  will  become  so 
thorougliiy  depraved  as  to  enter  into  a  regular  combination  for 
the  purpose  of  extirpating  the  small  remnant  of  God's  faithful 
people."* 

♦  Sacred  Calendar,  iii.  478. 

Bengel,  as  I  have  already  stated,  takes  it  to  be  a  period  ejiceediog  « 


444   NATURE  AND  EXTENT  OF  THE  "  DECEPTION." 

"  To  deceive  the  nations"  here,  does  not  mean  every 
kind  of  deception.  As  he  was  shut  up  "  that  he  shoald 
deceive  the  nations  no  more  till  the  thousand  years  should 
be  fulfilled,"  and  is  now  loosed  and  goes  forth  "  to  deceive 
the  nations"  once  more,  the  deception  must  be  of  the  same 
character  in  both  cases — to  organize  a  new  apostasy,  and 
through  them  to  make  a  fresh  attempt  against  the  Church 
of  God  upon  earth.     So  the  commentators  generally  agree. 

There  is  no  sufficient  reason  for  taking  "  the  nations  that 
are  in  the  four  quarters  (or  corners)  of  the  eartW  to  mean 
some  particular  nations  at  its  remote  extremities,  so  to 
speak.  Under  this  impression,  coupled  with  the  mystic 
names  "  Gog  and  Magog,"  some  have  given  lists  of  un- 
civilized nations  answering,  in  their  opinion,  to  the  descrip- 
tion. The  expression  is  clearly  employed  to  correspond 
with  the  figurative'  description  of  the  Church,  as  "  the 
cam'p  of  the  saints  and  the  beloved  city'^ — "  images  (says 
Scott^  borrowed  from  the  affairs  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness 
and  in  Canaan.-''*  The  Church  being  represented  under 
this  figure,  as  occupying  one  central  sacred  spot — once  a 
reality,  but  now,  under  the  gospel,  only  a  figure — her 
enemies  are  described  as  sweeping  from  the  ends  of  the 
earth  towards  this  spot ;  and  of  course,  in  order  to  this, 
Satan  is  described  as  going  out  thither  to  collect  his  forces. 
Thus  understood,  the  expression  denotes  the  7iations  uni- 
versally^ or  over  the  whole  extent  of  the  earth.\ 

century ;  while  Faber,  in  the  sentence  immediately  following  that  above 
quoted,  reckons  it  at  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  years,  faking  the 
words,  "Blessed  is  he  that  waiteth  and  cometh  to  the  tt  oiisind  three 
hundred  and  five-and-thirty  days"  (Dan.  xii.  12),  to  refer  to  the  thousand 
years  of  the  millennium,  and  the  "little  season"  to  succeed  it.  Some 
even  extend  it  farther;  but  where  there  is  no  light,  !is  I  believe,  our  wis- 
dom  is  to  be  silent. 

♦  See  also  Vitringa,  ad  loc. 

t  Compare  Job  i.  19 ;  Isa.  xi.  12 ;  Ezek  xliii.  20 ;  xlv.  19 ;  Rev.  vii.  1 


THE    ASSAULT ITS    OBJECT.  445 

The  names  "  Gog  and  Magog"  carry  us  back  to  the 
account  which  Ezekiel  gives  (xxxviii.,  xxxix.)  of  an  un- 
provoked, formidable,  but  abortive  attack  on  the  people  of 
Israel  peacefully  settled  in  their  own  land,  by  some  power 
or  powers  called  by  these  same  names.  Fraser,  Faber,  and 
others,  take  both  attacks  to  relate  to  the  same  event ;  but 
looking,  not  only  at  the  passages  themselves,  but  at  the 
usual  way  in  which  Old  Testament  events  are  referred  to  in 
the  Apocalypse,  we  are  led,  with  the  majority  of  commenta- 
tors, to  an  opposite  conclusion — that  the  events  are  in 
character  analogous^  rather  than  in  fact  the  same. 

The  object  of  Satan  is  very  explicitly  stated — "  to  gather 
them  together  to  battle."    The  temptations  fro?n  which  he  was 
restrained  being  strictly  of  this  nature^  he  is  now  loosed  just 
to  organise  a  confederacy  against  the  Church  again.     By 
what  steps  he  will  proceed,  and  on  what  precise  questions 
the  quarrel  will  ostensibly  be   raised — whether  he  will  set 
up  a  new  religion^  or  whether,  as  seems  more   probable,  he 
will  breathe  into  them  an  anti-religious  spirit,  that  cannot 
rest  so  long  as  God  has  any  open  friends,  and  Christ  any 
witnesses,  and  the  Church  exists  as  a  visible  body — we  can- 
not tell,  and  shall  in  vain  attempt  to  determine.     One  thing 
only  is  certain — he  will  succeed  in  raising  a  mighty  party, 
^*  the  number  of  whom  is  as  the  sand  of  the  sea"  (an  ex- 
pression, however,  not  to  be  pressed  too  far ;  see   Gen.  xli. 
49  ;  Judges  vii.  12  ;  and  2  Sam.  xvii.  11.)     One  may  wonder 
at  such  success  ;  but  the  past  history  of  the  struggles  of  the 
serpent's  seed  against  Christ  and  his  people,  teaches  us  to 
wonder  at  nothing  which  he  gets  liberty  to  do.     The  bright 
latter  day  has  set ;   the  generations  that  adorned  it  have 
died  ;  and   other  generations  have  arisen  that  "  know  not 
Joseph."     In  process  of  time  they  may  come  to  deny  that 
matters  were  ever  much  better  than  they  are,  and  laugh  at 
every  assertion  of  the  sort.     Impati3nce  of  the  yoke  of  reli- 
2p 


446      VASTNESS    AND    CONFIDENCE    OF    THE    ENEMY. 

gion  will  in  all  probability  come  to  be  the  uniting  principle 
and  animating  motive  of  this  vast  party.  ''  No  oppression," 
says  Fraser,  "  is  so  grievous  to  an  unsanctified  heart  as  that 
which  arises  from  the  purity  of  Christianity.  A  desire  to 
shake  off  this  yoke  is  the  true  cause  of  that  opposition 
Christianity  has  met  with  from  the  world  in  every  period, 
and  will,  it  is  most  likely,  be  the  chief  motive  to  influence 
the  followers  of  Gog  in  his  time."* 

Their  "  going  upf  on  the  breadth  of  the  earth,"  denotes 
their  sweeping  all  before  them  in  their  advances  against  the 
Church  ;  while  their  "  compassing  the  camp  of  the  saints 
and  the  beloved  city,"  seems  to  be  an  allusion  to  the  close 
investment  of  Jerusalem  by  Sennacherib,  king  of  Assyria. 
The  daring  and  blasphemous  assumptions  of  that  heathen 
monarch  and  his  men  of  war,  their  undoubting  confidence 
of  success,  and  their  profound  and  godless  security,  up  to 
the  moment  when  the  angel  of  the  Lord  smote  the  host — 
will  doubtless  find  their  like  at  this  final  investment  of  "  the 
beloved  city." 

"  As  it  was  in  the  days  of  Noe,  so  it  shall  be  also  in  the  days  of 
the  Son  of  Man.  They  did  eat,  they  draftk,  they  married 
wives,  they  were  given  in  marriage,  until  the  day  that  Noe 
entered  into  the  ark,  and  the  flood  came,  and  destroyed  them 
all.  Likewise  also  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Lot ;  they  did  eat, 
they  drank,  they  bought,  they  sold,  they  planted,  they  build- 
ed ;  but  the  same  day  that  Lot  went  out  of  Sodom  it  rained 
fire  and  brimstone  from  heaven,  and  destroyed  them  all. 
Even  thus  shall  it  be  in  the  day  when  the  Son  of  Man  is  re- 
vealed."—(Luke  xvii.  26-30.) 

"  Yourselves  know  perfectly  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  so  cometh 
as  a  thief  in  the  night.  For  when  they  shall  say,  Peace  and 
safety  ;  then  sudden  destruction  cometh  upon  them,  as  travail 

♦"Key,  ut  supra,  p.  455. 

t  Grotius  notices  the  military  character  of  this  phrase,  referring  to  i 
Sam.  xi.  1,  I  Kings  xx.  1,  and  Isa.  xxxvi.  1,  as  parallels. 


THE    LAST    CRISIS.  44T 

upon  a  woman  with  child ;  and  they  shall  not  escape." — (1 

Thess.  V.  2,  3.) 
"  There  shall  come  iji  the  last  days  scoffers,  walking  after  theil 

own  lusts,  and  saying,  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  V 

—(2  Peter  iii.  3,  4.) 
"  When  the  Son  of  man  cometh,  shall  he  find  faith  on  the  earth  V 

— (Luke  xviii.  8.) 

And  just  as  faithful  Hezekiah  and  his  people,  shut  in  by 
an  enemy  sufficient  to  overwhelm  them,  could  only  "  lift  up 
their  prayer  for  the  remnant  that  was  left,"  saying,  "  This 
day  is  a  day  of  trouble,  and  of  rebuke,  and  of  blasphemy ; 
for  the  children  are  come  to  the  birth,  and  there  is  not 
strength  to  bring  forth  :  incline  thine  ear,  0  Lord,  and 
hear  ;  open  thine  eyes,  0  Lord,  and  see  ;  and  hear  all  the 
words  of  Sennacherib,  which  hath  sent  to  reproach  the  liv- 
ing God,"  (Isa.  xxxvii.  3,  17) — so  will  the  faithful  in  this 
final  struggle  feel  their  case  utterly  hopeless  but  for  some 
signal  interposition  from  on  high.  Accordingly,  they  are 
represented  as  "  crying  to  him  day  and  night, ^^  and  because 
he  "bears  long  with  them"  (Luke  xviii.  7),  some  will  give 
it  up  in  despair,  while  the  hearts  of  others  will  fail  them  for 
fear  of  being  left  to  the  will  of  their  enemies. 

In  these  circumstances,  of  confidence  on  the  one  side 
and  fear  on  the  other — when  the  enemy  is  saying,  "  I  will 
pursue,  I  will  overtake,  I  will  divide  the  spoil" — the  tremu- 
lous cries  of  the  remnant  that  is  left  enter  into  the  ears  of 
the  Lord  of  Sabaoth.  "  Shall  not  God  avenge  his  own 
elect,  that  cry  day  and  night  unto  him,  though  he  bear  long 
with  them  ?  I  tell  you,  he  will  avenge  them  speedily." 
No  manifest  sign  of  interposition,  it  would  seem,  will  be 
given.  As  "  the  sun  was  risen  upon  the  earth  when  Lot 
entered  into  Zoar,"  and  "  then  the  Lord  rained  upon 
Sodom  and  upon  Gomorrah  brimstone  and  fire  from  the 
Lord  out  of  heaven"  (Gen.  xix.  23,  24),  so  when  the  last 


44S  THE    CONSUMMATION. 

enemy  of  the  Church  shall  be  ready  to  swallow  up  the 
camp  of  "  the  saints  and  the  beloved  city,"  then  "  fire  shall 
come  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  and  devour  them." 

Whether  there  will  be  any  interval^  or  of  what  length, 
between  this  act  of  signal  vengeance  and  the  Personal  Ap- 
pearing of  Christ,  we  have  not  sufficient  ground  to  deter- 
mine.  Fraser,  Faber,  and  those  who  take  their  views  of 
"  Gog,"  suppose  that  the  "  seven  months"  which  Ezekiel 
speaks  of,  as  spent  burying  the  carcases  of  these  victims  of 
justice,  are  an  indication  that  "  the  last  day  will  not  quite 
immediately  follow"  this  judgment.  Their  grounds,  how- 
ever, are  not  convincing  ;  and  the  probability  is  that  this 
will  be  the  immediate  precursor  of  "  the  last  trumpet." 
For  the  final  judgment  of  the  devil  himself  is  recorded  in 
the  very  next  verse,  and  just  before  the  account  of  the  last 
judgment. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  we  are  now  brought — as  far  as  the 
light  of  revelation  goes — to  the  concluding  scene.  "  Cor- 
ruption," says  Fraser^  "  following  after  the  purity  and 
happiness  of  the  millennium,  serves  to  prove  fully  what 
had  been  shown  partly  before,  that  unsanctified  human  na- 
ture cannot  bear  prosperity,  because  it  leads  men  to  resist 
God's  authority,  to  gratify  their  own  lusts  at  the  expense 
of  violating  his  laws,  and  defacing  the  beauty  and  order  of 
his  creation ;  that  all  the  ordinary  means  of  grace,  that  all 
the  common  and  extraordinary  dispensations  of  Divine 
providence,  which  the  wisdom  of  God  devised,  and  his 
long-suffering  patience  exercised  for  the  reformation  of 
the  human  race,  are  inefi'ectual  to  reform  the  whole,  and 
that  the  malignant  distemper  of  sin  requires  a  more  violent 
remedy.  Accordingly,  the  world  now  ripe  for  destruction, 
and  the  Church  for  eternal  salvation,  God  sets  his  throne 
for  the   last  judgment."*     '•  Then,"  says  Edwards,  "  will 

♦  Key,  ut  supra,  pp.  462,  463. 


CHRIST    NOW    COMES    TO    JUDGMENT.  449 

come  the  time  when  all  the  elect  shall  be  gathered  in. 
That  work  of  conversion  which  has  been  carried  on  from 
the  beginning  of  the  Church,  after  the  fall,  through  all 
those  ages,  shall  be  carried  on  no  more.  There  never  shall 
another  soul  be  converted.  Every  one  of  those  many 
millions  whose  names  were  written  in  the  book  of  life  be- 
fore the  foundation  of  the  world,  shall  be  brought  in  ;  not 
one  soul  shall  be  lost.  And  the  mystical  body  of  Christ, 
which  has  been  growing  since  it  first  began  in  the  days  of 
Adam,  will  be  complete  as  to  number  of  parts,  having 
every  one  of  its  members.  In  this  respect,  the  work  of  re- 
demption will  now  be  finished.  And  now  the  end,  for 
which  the  means  of  grace  have  been  instituted,  shall  be 
obtained  All  the  effect  which  was  intended  to  be  accom- 
plished by  them  shall  now  be  accomplished.  All  the  great 
wheels  of  Providcneo  have  gone  rouud — all  things  are  ripe 
for  Christ's  coming  to  judgment  "* 

"  Even  so,  come.  Lord  Jesus  ! " 

•  Hist,  of  Red.  ut  supra. 


8p2 


PART    III. 

OBJECTIONS. 


OBJECTIONS. 

A  NUMBER  of  objections  to  the  doctrine  of  the  foregoing 
passages  have  already  been  noticed,  and  sufiSciently  replied 
to  in  the  progress  of  our  argument.  Some,  however,  I 
have  reserved  for  separate  consideration  here.  And  I  begin 
with  the  strongest  of  all, — the  only  one,  indeed,  which  ap- 
pears to  me  to  have  much  force. 

OBJECTION  FIRST: 

The  coming  of  Christ  is  expressly  said  to  be  for  the  de- 
struction of  Antichrist ;  and,  as  that  is  confessedly  pre- 
millennial,  so  must  the  coming  of  Christ  be. 

The  passage  on  which  this  argument  is  founded  I  shall 
give  in  full. 

2  Thess.  ii.  1-8:  "We  beseech  you,  brethren,  by*  the  coming 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  our  gathering  together  unto 
him,  that  ye  be  not  soon  moved  from  [the  steadiness  of] 
your  mind,t  or  be  troubled,  neither  by  spirit,  nor  by  word, 
nor  by  letter,  as  from  us,  as  if  the  day  of  Christ  were  immi- 
nent.   Let  no  man  deceive  you  by  any  means;    for  [that 

♦  Or  "  concerning."  Several  eminent  critics  seem  to  question  whether 
inep  is  ever  used  as  an  adjuration,  as  in  our  version.  But  that  it  signifies 
*^/or  the  sake  of"  in  classical  writers,  is  undoubted  (see  ex.  gr.  II.  G,  466), 
and  it  is  rendered  per  in  the  Vulgate,  and  by  Erasmus,  Beza,  Calvin 
(though  alternatively  with  de),  and  many  others. 

'f'  aaXevdiji/at  axo  r.  vooi. 


454  OBJECTION    FIRST. 

day  shall  not  come]  unless  there  come  the  apostasy  first, 
and  the  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of  perdition,  who 
opposeth  and  exalteth  himself  against  all  that  is  called 
God,  or  that  is  woi-shipped ;  so  that  he  [as  God  J*  sitteth  in 
the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God.  Re- 
member ye  not  that,  when  I  was  with  you,  I  told  you 
these  things.  And  now  ye  know  what  withholdeth  that 
he  may  be  revealed  in  his  time.  For  the  mystery  of  ini- 
quity doth  already  work :  only  [there  is]  one  who  hinder- 
eth,t  till  he  be  taken  out  of  the  way.  And  then  shall  the 
lawless  one:}:  be  revealed,  whovi  the  Lord  Jesus^  shall  destroy 
with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall  abolish  with  the  brightness 
of  his  coming." 

On  this  passage,  I  can  say  with  the  venerable  and  acute 
Mr.  Faber,  that  it  is  "  the  only  apparent  evidence  for  the 
pre-millennial  advent  which,  after  long  thought  upon  the 
subject,  I  have  been  able  to  discover."  In  stating  the 
argument,  however,  from  this  passage,  Mr.  Faber  does  it  no 
justice.  He  says  it  lies  here,  that  an  advent  of  Christ 
being  mentioned  in  both  epistles  to  the  Thessalonians.  and 
the  advent  of  the  first  epistle  being  confessedly  his  second 
personal  advent,  the  advent  of  the  second  epistle,  to  destroy 
the  Man  of  Sin,  must  needs  be  the  same  second  advent. 
This  is  hardly  a  fair  statement  of  the  argument ;  nor  is  liis 
answer  to  it  more  satisfactory.  He  thinks  the  Thessaloniana 
had  been  "  led  to  imagine  that  the  advent  of  Christ  to  destroy 
the  little  horn,  or  the  Man  of  Sin,  so  graphically  described 
by  Daniel,  was  close  at  hand ;  "  j|  and  that  it  is  this  mistake 
which  the  apostle  corrects  in  the  passage  before  us.  Now, 
for  my  part,  I  see  no  ground  to  think  the  Thessalonians 
were  troubled  about  the  Man  of  Sin  at  all.     To  me  it  s^i-ora^ 

*  wf  ^tov,  omitted  by  nearly  all  modern  editors. 

f  ^ovov  h  KaTtx^t^v  aprt  twf,  k.  t.  \. 

"^  b  avofiOf. 

^  Iijffsws  added  by  the  modern  editors. 

H  Sacred  Calendar,  ill.  437. 


OBJECTION    FIRST.  455 

manifest  that  the  time  of  Christ's  second  personal  advent 
was  what  excited  and  unsettled  the  Thessalonians ;  and 
that  the  apostle  brings  in  the  apostasy  and  the  Man  of  Sin 
quite  incidentally^  to  show  how  mistaken  was  the  notion 
that  all  things  were  already  ripe  for  Christ's  second  coming. 
In  this  view  of  the  passage,  then,  the  argument  for  the  pre- 
millennial  advent  from  it  will  stand  thus  : — Here  is  a  pas- 
sage in  which  the  express  subject  of  discourse  is  the  second 
"  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  our  gathering  to- 
gether unto  him,"  (v.  I)  ;  to  guard  against  the  notion  that 
this  "  day  of  Christ "  (his  personal  coming)  was  "  at  hand  " 
or  "  imminent."  (v.  2),  we  are  informed  that  a  great  apos- 
tasy would  have  to  be  consummated  in  the  Christian 
Church,  and  the  Man  of  Sin  to  be  revealed  ere  Christ 
come  (v.  3-8) ;  and  therefore,  when  the  apostle  adds,  of 
this  anti-christian  power,  "  whom  the  Lord  shall  destroy  with 
the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall  abolish  with  the  bright- 
ness of  his  coming"  is  it  not  most  natural  to  take  this 
"  coming  "  to  destroy  the  Man  of  Sin  to  be  the  same  personal 
coming  of  which  the  apostle  was  discoursing,  and  that  hav- 
ing told  them  before  what  events  Christ  could  not  come,  he 
now  tells  them  for  what  purpose  he  would  come,  namely, 
to  destroy  Antichrist,  and  consequently  before  the  millen- 
nium? 

I  think  I  have  put  this  argument  fairly,  and  with  all  its 
force.     Let  us  now  endeavour  to  weigh  it  dispassionately. 

1.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  that  the  whole  passage  admits 
of  a  consistent  and  good  explanation  on  the  view  of  it  above 
given.  Nor  is  this  view  confined  to  pre-millennialists. 
Those  of  our  elder  divines  who  looked  upon  the  millennium 
as  past  already,  and  considered  the  destruction  of  Antichrist 
as  the  immediate  precursor  of  the  eternal  state,  understood 
this  "  coming  of  the  Lord  "  to  destroy  Antichrist,  of  his 
second  personal  advent.      There  are  other  opponent?  of  the 


456  OBJECTION    FIRST. 

pre-millennial  theory,  who  explain  this  coming  to  destroy 
the  Man  of  Sin,  of  Christ's  second  coming.  They  make 
"  the  apostasy,"  "  the  Man  of  Sin,"  '^  the  lawless  one"  here 
spoken  of,  to  embrace  all  the  einl,  apostasy,  and  opposition 
to  Christ,  which  are  to  exist  till  the  consummation  of  all 
things ;  in  which  case,  the  destruction  of  it  will  of  course 
not  be  till  the  second  advent.  In  neither  of  these  views, 
however,  can  I  concur.  As  I  do  not  believe  that  the  mil- 
lennium is  past  already,  I  do  not  think  the  destruction  of 
Antichrist  will  be  immediately  followed  by  the  eternal 
state.  And  as  I  think  it  manifest  that  the  apostle  is  de- 
scribing, not  apostasy  in  general,  and  all  the  opposition  to 
Christ  which  is  to  arise  in  the  world,  but  a  specific  apostasy. 
out  of  which  was  to  spring  a  specific  enemy  of  Christ  and 
his  Church,  T  am  constrained,  by  all  the  laws  of  exact  in- 
terpretation, to  apply  the  destruction  here  predicted  to 
thai  specific  enemy  so  minutely  described,  and  the  '•  coming 
of  the  Lord"  here  announced — whether  personal  or  figu- 
rative— to  a  ■pre-millennial  coming.     But, 

2.  It  is  beyond  all  reasonable  dispute,  that  the  temporal 
judgment  of  any  wicked  community — whether  political  or 
ecclesiastical — by  the  agency  of  second  causes,  is  in  prophetic 
language  described  as  "  the  coming  of  the  Lord,^^  and  "  the 
day  of  judgment "  to  that  community.  Thus  was  Isaiah 
to  foretell  the  destruction  of  Babylon  by  the  instrumen- 
tality of  the  Medes  and  Persians  ?  This  is  the  strain  of 
his  language  : 


"  The  day  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand,-  it  shall  come  as  a  destruction 

from  the  Almighty Behold  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh, 

cruel  both  with  wrath  and  fierce  anger,  to  lay  the  land 
desolate,  and  he  shall  destroy  the  sinners  thereof  out  of 
it.  For  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  the  constellations  thereof,  shall 
not  give  their  light ;  tlie  sun  shall  be  darkened  in  his  going  forth, 
Uid  the  moon  shall  Twt  cause  her  light  to  shine.  .  .  .  I  will  shake 


OBJECTION    FIRST.  457 

the  heavens,  artd  the  earth  shall  remove  out  of  her  flace,  in  the 
wrath  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  in  the  day  of  his  fierce 

anger And  Babylon,  the  glory  of  kingdoms,  the 

beauty  of  the  Chaldees'  excellency,  shall  be  as  when  God 
overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah."— (Isa.  xiii.  6,  9,  10, 
13,  19.) 

Similar  language  is  used  with  respect  to  Egypt : 

'^*  3ehold,  the  Lord  rideth  upon  a  swift  cloud,  and  shall  come  into 
Egypt ;  and  the  idols  of  Egypt  shall  be  moved  at  his  p-esence^ 
and  the  heart  of  Egypt  shall  melt  in  the  midst  of  it."— (Isa. 
xix.  1.) 

So  of  Assyria  : 

"  Behold,  the  name  of  the  Lord  cometh  from  far,  burning  with  hii 
anger,  and  the  burden  thereof  is  heavy:  his  lips  are  full 
of  indignation,  and  his  tongue  as  a  devouring  fire:  and 
his  breath,  as  an  overflowing  stream,  shall  reach  to  the 
midst  of  the  neck.*  ....  And  the  Lord  shall  cause  his 
glorious  voice  to  be  heard,  and  shall  show  the  lighting 
down  of  his  glorious  ann,  with  the  indignation  of  his 
anger,  and  the  flame  of  a  devouring  fire,  with  scattering,  and 

tempest,  and  hailstones For  Tophet  is  ordained  of 

old ;  yea,  for  the  king  it  is  prepared ;  he  hath  made  it  deep 
and  large :  the  pile  thereof  is  fire  and  much  wood  ;  the  breath 
of  the  Lord,  like  a  stream  of  brimstone,  shall  kindle  it." — 
(Isa.  XXX.  27.  28,  30,  33.) 

So  of   J'iriisale.m.   through    the   instrumentality  of  the 

Chaldeans  : 

*'  Behold,  the  Lord  cometh  forth  out  of  his  place,  and  will  come  down, 
and  tread  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth.     And  the  mountains 

*  Compare  chap.  xi.  4:  "He  (Messiah)  shall  smite  the  earth  with  the 
rod  of  his  mouth,  and  with  the  breath  of  his  lips  shall  he  slay  the  wicked 
person."  These  are  the  words  which  the  apostle  employs  in  the  passage 
before  us—"  Whom  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  destroy  with  the  spirit  qf  hit 
morith,  and  abolish  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming." 


458  OBJECTION    FIRST. 

s/udl  be  molten  wnder  him,  and  the  valleys  shall  be  cleft,  as  wax 
before  the  fire,  and  as  waters  that  are  poured  down  a  steep 
place.  For  the  transgression  of  Jacob  is  all  this,"  &c.— 
(Mic.  i.  3-5.) 

So  of  Jerusalem,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
Romans : 

"  And  I  will  show  wonders  in  the  heavens  and  in  the  earth,  blood 
and  fire,  and  pillars  of  smoke.  The  sun  shall  be  turned  into 
darkness,  and  the  moon  into  blood,  before  the  great  and  the 
TERRIBLE  DAY  OP  THE  Lord  comc."  (Jocl  ii.  30,  31 ;  compare 
Acts  ii.  16,  19,  20.)  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Ye  shall  not 
have  gone  over  the  cities  of  Israel,  till  the  Son  of  man  bb 
COME."— (Matt.  X.  23.) 

So,  in  a  word,  of  the  Church  of  Sardis  : 

"If  therefore  thou  shalt  not  watch,  I  will  come  on  thee  as  o,  thief ^ 
and  thou  shalt  not  know  what  hour  I  will  come  upon  thee." — 
(Rev.  iii.  3.) 

It  will  be  of  no  avail  to  allege  that  some  or  all  of  these 
passages  point  ultimately  to  the  personal  advent  of  Christ, 
and  that  Babylon.  Egypt,  Jerusalem,  Sardis,  are  in  that 
case  to  be  viewed  as  typical  of  powers  and  parties  then 
existing.  It  is  enough  if  it  be  admitted  (and  who  can 
dispute  it  ?)  that  "  the  Lord  "  is  in  all  these  passages  re- 
presented as  "  coming "  for  the  destruction  of  the  commu- 
nities just  mentioned,  and  that  in  those  cases  the  coming 
could  only  be  figurative.  From  these  examples  it  is  evi- 
dent, that  a  figurative  coming  of  the  Lord  for  such  purposes 
was  quite  familiar  in  prophetic  phraseology  ;  that  the  mere 
occurrence  of  such  language  in  a  prophecy  would  not  ne- 
cessarily suggest  to  any  one  well  versed  in  its  langu^^ge, 
the  personal  advent  of  Christ,  but  rather  the  reverse  ;  that, 
as  the  apostle  Paul  was  profoundly  read  in  the  Scriptures, 


OBJECTION    FIRST.  459 

and  deeply  imbued  with  their  spirit  and  style,  it  cannot  be 
thought  strange  that  he  should  fall  in  with  it  in  this  re- 
spect, by  speaking  of  a  bright  coming  of  Christ  to  destroy 
the.  anti-chrislian  power,  meaning  a  figurative  advent,  and 
not  his  second  personal  coming.  This  being  the  case — 
since  such  a  sense  of  the  apostle's  phraseology,  taken  by  it- 
self, is  perfectly  familiar  in  prophetic  language — the  only 
question  is,  Does  the  whole  passage  forbid  such  a  sense  1  is 
there  any  thing  in  the  subject  and  context  to  make  such  a 
sense  harsh  and  unnatural  ?  If  so,  I  for  one  would  not 
adopt  it.  For  in  most  cases,  the  scope  of  an  author  is  a 
far  better  clue  to  his  meaning  than  any  criticism  on  parti- 
cular words.     Let  us  try  the  passage,  then,  by  this  test. 

The  precise  object  of  the  apostle,  be  it  observed,  was  not  to 
tell  the  Thessalonians  when  or  even  in  connexion  with  what 
events  Christ  would  come.  His  one  object  is  expressed  by 
himself  as  plainly  as  possible,  namely,  to  dissipate  the  notion 
"  that  the  day  of  Christ  was  at  hand^^  or  "  imminent.''^  This 
object  is  sufficiently  gained  by  the  announcement  of  an  apos- 
tasy yet  to  be  consummated,  and  the  Man  of  Sin  yet  to  be 
revealed  in  the  Christian  Church.  By  this  they  would  be 
taught  that  matters  were  very  far  from  being  ripe  for  the 
immediate  coming  of  Christ.  But  our  apostle  is  not  accus- 
tomed to  dismiss  great  topics,  even  though  only  incidentally 
noticed,  with  the  topic  which  occasioned  the  mention  of 
them  ;  and  often  the  digression  occupies  more  space  than 
the  subject  which  drew  it  forth.  So  it  is  here.  The  sub- 
ject is  the  second  coming  of  Christ ;  the  digression  relates 
to  the  apostacy  and  the  Man  of  Sin.  Having  disposed  of 
the  primary  subject,  he  expatiates  on  the  incidental  one, 
going  into  very  interesting  details  regarding  the  anti-chris- 
tian  character  and  blasphemous  pretensions  of  this  ecclesi- 
astical power;  the  preparations  already  in  being  for  his 
manifestation  ;  the  unnamed  obstacle  still  existing  to  his 


460  OBJECTION    FIRST. 

formal  development,  and  the  revelation,  on  the  removal  of 
this  obstacle,  of  the  dreaded  enemy,  destined  nevertheless  to 
perish  by  the  spirit  of  the  Lord's  mouth,  and  the  brightness 
of  his  coming ;  his  Satanic  origin  and  diabolical  arts  for  de- 
coying men  ;  the  mischief  he  was  to  be  permitted  to  work  ; 
the  causes  of  his  success,  and  the  class  of  persons  whom  he 
would  find  prepared  to  swallow  his  lies  to  their  souls'  de- 
struction. These  details  extend  over  ten  verses^  while  the 
intimation  of  the  destruction  of  this  power  by  the  brightness 
of  the  Lord's  coming  occupies  the  half  of  one  verse  in  the. 
very  centre  of  these  details,  and  is  introduced  quite  paren- 
thetically, even  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence — the  detail  being 
continued  through  four  subsequent  verses. 

Looking  at  the  whole  passage  in  this  light,  I  can  see  no- 
thing requiring  us  to  take  this  incidental  "  brightness  of  his 
coming"  to  be  the  same  with  that  personal  "  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  our  gathering  unto  him,"  the  error 
about  which  had  been  already  corrected.  I  do  not  saj'-  it 
cannot  be.  All  I  say  is,  I  see  nothing  which  imperatively 
requires  us  so  to  understand  it.  In  answer  to  the  question, 
Which  is  the  more  probable  sense  of  the  phrase,  "  bright- 
ness of  his  coming,"  here  ?  I  answer  by  reminding  the 
reader  how  all  great  judicial  visitations — all  inflictions  of 
public  vengeance  on  a  great  scale,  whether  on  political  or 
ecclesiastical  bodies — are  described  in  language  drawn  from 
the  final  and  personal  coming  of  the  Lord  to  judgment.^  and 
how,  for  the  judgment  of  Antichrist  especially,  the  Lord 
is  uniformly  represented  as  "coming"  in  the  awful  pomp 
of  retributive  justice — with  all  the  solemnities  in  which  he 
will  ever  appear  at  the  great  day — which  day,  however,  we 
have  seen  that  it  is  not ;  and  then  asking  the  reader  whether 
Paul,  familiar  ivith  such  language,  and  copying  not  only 
the  general  style  but  the  precise  phraseology  of  the  prophets, 
when  describing  the  Man  of  Sin's  destruction  in  the  very 


OBJECTION    FIRST.  461 

language  in  which  his  doom  had  been  written  already  to 
his  hand,  is  not  to  be  interpreted  according  to  the  uniform 
se?ise  of  Scripture  prophecy^  on  the  subject  of  which  he  pro- 
fessedly treats  1 

3.  What  is  here  ascribed  to  "  the  brightness  of  Christ's 
coming,"  is  in  Daniel  ascribed  to  the  Church  itself  as  the 
instrument  of  Antichrist's  destruction.*  A  careful  attention 
to  this  fact  will  show  the  extreme  improbability  of  the  "  com- 
ing" here  being  Christ's  second  personal  advent. 

4.  When  the  Socinians  quote  with  an  air  of  triumph 
such  passages  as  these,  "  My  Father  is  greater  than  I " — 
(John  xiv.  28) ;  "  Then  shall  the  Son  also  himself  be 
subject  to  Him  that  put  all  things  under  him,  that  God 
may  be  all  in  all"  (1  Cor.  xv.  28) — in  proof  of  the  per- 
sonal inferiority  of  the  Son,  it  would  be  uncandid  to  deny 
that  these  and  like  passages,  taken  by  themselves^  and  without 
the  light  thrown  upon  them  by  other  portions  of  revelation^ 
do  seem  to  teach  this  inferiority ;  and  that,  when  we  never- 
theless assert  the  absolute  personal  equality  of  the  Son  to 
the  Father,  we  seem  to  violate  the  natural  sense  of  those 
passages.  It  is  only  by  a  careful  comparison  of  Scripture 
with  Scripture,  that  the  perfect  consistency  of  such  state- 
ments with  the  supreme  deity  of  Christ  is  made  to  appear. 

In  like  manner,  though  it  would  be  uncandid  to  deny 
that  "  the  brightness  of  Christ's  coming,"  to  destroy  Anti- 
christ, may  explain  perfectly  well  of  his  second  personal 
coming,  and  that  if  we  take  this  passage  by  itself  and  with- 
out  the  light  thrown  on  it  by  other  portions  of  Scripture^ 
that  does  seem  to  be  the  coming  intended ;  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  affiming,  that  if  we  will  but  deal  with  this 
passage  as  we  do  with  those  which  seem  to  favour  the 
Socinian   scheme,   we   shall    soon   be   convinced    that   the 


♦  See  Part  II.  chapter  iii.,  particularly  pj  .  352-354. 
2(i2 


462  OBJECTION    SECOND. 

second  personal  advent  is  not  the  coming  of  Christ  here  in 
tended.* 

OBJECTION  SECOND: 

The  coming  of  the  Lord  announced  in  the  following 
passage  can  be  no  other  than  his  personal  coming ;  and  as 
the  time  of  this  coming  is  when  "  the  times  of  the  Gentiles 
have  been  fulfilled,"  that  is,  at  the  fall  of  Antichrist  and 
immediately  before  the  millenium,  it  follows  that  this  is  the 
time  of  the  second  advent.] 

Matt.  xxiv.  29-31:  "Immediately  after  the  tribulation  of 
those  days  shall  the  sun  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall 
not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven, 
and  the  powers  of  the  heaven  shall  be  shaken :  and  then 
shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in  heaven :  and 
then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they 
shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven 
with  power  and  great  glory.  And  he  shall  send  his 
angels  with  a  great  sound  of  a  t'^umpet,  and  they  shall 
gather  together  his  elect  from    the   four  winds,   from   one 

*  Some  insist  that  the  "coming"  here  must  be  personal,  because  the 
word  {irapovaia)  rendered  "  coming,"  is  never  used  but  of  a  'personal 
coming.*  Were  I  disposed  to  trust  to  such  materials,  I  might  argue  the 
opposite  of  this  from  the  very  next  verse,  where  the  same  word  is  em- 
ployed to  denote  the  ^* coming  of  the  Man  of  Sin" — certainly  not  an  in- 
dividual person,  but  a  wicked,  apostate,  anti-christian  system  or  power 
(of  which  it  were  absurd  to  regard  the  Pope  as  any  more  than  the  nomi- 
nal head — a  head,  too,  which  has  often  been  a-wanting  whilst  the  life  of 
the  system  has  been  entire).  But  what  matters  it  either  way  ?  It  is 
admitted  that  the  Lord  is  said  to  "come"  figuratively  in  many  places 
of  Scripture;  and  if  so,  since  the  figure — to  be  a  good  one — must  be 
taken  from  his  pej-so7ial  coming,  of  course  any  word  expressive  of  a  per- 
sonal coming  must,  just  on  that  account,  be  suitable  for  expressing  his 
figurative  coming, 

t  It  is  unnecessary  to  give  references  here,  as  every  defence  of  the  pr* 
millennial  theory  contains  this  argument, 

»  Brooks,  Elem.  pp.  18&-177.    Wood,  Affirm.  Answ.  p.  63. 


OBJECTION    SECOND. 

end    of    heaven    to    the    other."      (Compare    Luke    xx!. 
24-27.) 

That  these  words  point  ultimately  to  the  personal  advent 
of  Christ  and  the  final  judgment,  I  have  not  the  least 
doubt.  Nor  do  I  question  that  when,  "  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles  are  fulfilled,"  they  will  receive  an  accomplishment. 
To  both  these  I  will  speak  by  and  by.  But  the  first  ques- 
tion ought  to  be,  What  is  the  direct  and  primary  sense  of 
the  prophec}'  ?  Those  who  have  not  directed  their  atten- 
tion to  prophetic  language  will  be  startled  if  I  answer, 
The  coming  of  the  Lord  here  announced  is  his  com,ing  in 
judgment  against  Jerusalem — to  destroy  itself  and  its  tem- 
ple, and  with  them  the  peculiar  standing  and  privileges  of 
the  Jews  as  the  visible  Church  of  God,  and  set  up  "the 
kingdom  of  heaven"  (or  gospel  kingdom)  in  a  manner 
more  palpable  and  free  than  could  be  done  while  Jerusalem 
was  yet  standing.  I  say  this  application  of  the  words,  as 
their  direct  and  primary  sense,  will  probably  startle  those 
unacquainted  with  the  prophetic  style.  But  all  hesitation 
on  the  subject  will  cease  if  we  will  but  allow  the  Scripture 
to  be  its  own  interpreter.     And, 

1.  Our  Lord  decides  the  sense  of  his  own  words,  when 
he  says  of  this  entire  prophecy,  almost  immediately  after 
the  words  quoted,  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  This  genera- 
tion SHALL  NOT  PASS  TILL  ALL  THESE  THINGS  BE  FUL- 
FILLED."— (Matt.  xxiv.  34.)  Does  not  this  tell  us  as 
plainly  as  words  could  do  it,  that  the  whole  prophecy  was 
meant  to  apply  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  ?  There  is 
but  one  way  of  setting  this  aside,  but  how  forced  it  is, 
must,  I  think,  appear  to  every  unbiased  mind.  It  is 
by  translating,  not  "  this  gencratiorC  (h  y^vea  avrffy  l)ut 
"  this  nation  shall  not  pass  away  ;"  in  other  words,  the 
Jewish  nation  shall  survive  all  the  things  here  predicted ! 


464  OBJECTION    SECOND. 

Nothing  but  some  fancied  necessity,  arising  out  of  their 
view  of  the  prophecy,  could  have  led  so  many  sensible  men 
to  put  this  gloss  upon  our  Lord's  words.  Only  try  the 
effect  of  it  upon  the  perfectly  parallel  announcement  in  the 
previous  chapter :  "  Fill  ye  up  then  the  measure  of  your 
fathers.  .  .  .  Wherefore,  behold,  I  send  you  prophets  and 
wise  men  and  scribes :  and  some  of  them  ye  shall  kill  and 
crucify ;  and  some  of  them  shall  ye  scourge  in  your  syna- 
gogues, and  persecute  from  city  to  city :  thai  upon  you  may 
come  all  the  righteous  blood  shed  upon  the  earth,  from  the 
blood  of  righteous  Abel  unto  the  blood  of  Zacharias,  whom 
ye  slew  between  the  temple  and  the  altar.  Verily  I  say 
unto  you^  All  these  things  shall  come  vpon  this  generation.''^ 
(tv  Ttiv  yeveav  ravTnv  Matt,  xxiii.  32,  34-36).  Docs  not  the 
Lord  here  mean  the  then  existing  ge?ieration  of  the  Israelites  ? 
Beyond  all  question  he  does  ;  and  if  so,  what  can  be  plainer 
than  that  this  is  his  meaning  in  the  passage  before  us?* 
In  this  case,  the  coming  of  the  Lord  here  announced  is  just 
his  figurative  coming  to  "  judge"  and  destroy  Jerusalem, 
with  all  the  judicial  consequences  of  that  coming. 

2.  Language  equally  strong  with  that  of  this  prophecy  is 
not  only  used  in  a  figurative  sense,  and  in  a  great  variety 
of  cases — showing  that  the  figurative  sense  is  a  fixed  and 
recognized  sense  in  prophetic  style — but  it  is  expressly  ap- 
plied to  this  very  event  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
where  we  have  inspired  authority  for  so  understanding  it. 

*  It  is  not  enough  to  argue,  as  Mr.  Faber  does,  that  the  primary  mean- 
ing of  the  word  is  '' nation,"  and  that  the  sense  put  upon  it  by  our  trans- 
lators is  but  the  secondary  sense ;  for  many  words  are  used  chiefly  in 
their  secondary  sense.  His  examples  of  New  Testament  usage  are,  I 
think,  against  his  own  conclusion  ;  and  if  the  Greek  Concordance  be  con- 
sulted, the  usage  will  be  thought  rather  the  other  way.  But,  setting 
aside  such  criticism,  the  one  question,  I  conceive,  is,  Can  the  word  be 
rendered  *'  nation "  lere,  without  putting  a  forced,  not  to  say  foolish 
sense  upon  the  wlv.'le  statement?    I  think  not. 


OBJECTION    SECOND.  465 

1  have  already  shown  that  the  judgments  of  the  Lord  on 
Babylon,  Egypt,  Jerusalem,  at  the  time  of  the  captivity, 
and  the  Sardian  church,  are  announced  in  language  quite  as 
strong  as  that  of  the  passage  before  us.  I  here  add  one 
other  example : — 

Rev.  vi.  12-17  :  "  And  the  sun  became  black  as  sackcloth  of 
hair,  and  the  moon  became  as  blood  ;  and  the  stars  of 
heaven  fell  unto  the  earth,  even  as  a  fig-tree  casteth  her 
untimely  figs,  when  she  is  shaken  of  a  mighty  wind.  And 
the  heaven  departed  as  a  scroll  when  it  is  rolled  together ; 
and  every  mountain  and  island  were  moved  out  of  their 
places.  And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men, 
and  the  rich  men,  and  the  chief  captains,  and  the  mighty 
men,  and  every  bond  man,  and  every  free  man,  hid 
themselves  in  the  dens  and  in  the  rocks  of  the  moun- 
tains :  and  said  to  the  mountains  and  rocks,  Fall  on  us, 
and  HIDE  us  prom  the  face  op  Him  that  sitteth  on  the 

THRONE,  AND  FROM  THE  WRATH  OP  THE  LaMB  :  FOR  THE  GREAT 
DAY  OP  HIS  WRATH  IS  COME;  AND  WHO  SHALL  BE  ABLE  TO 
STAND  ]" 

Who  that  is  ignorant  of  the  prophetic  style  would  not 
be  startled  to  learn  that  the  personal  advent  of  Christ,  and 
the  last  judgment,  is  not  the  primary  and  proper  subject  of 
this  sublime  prophecy,  and  that  the  fall  of  Paganism  in  the 
fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  is  the  historical  event 
here  symbolically  announced  ?  Yet  the  great  majority  of 
commentators,  including  some  of  the  staunchest  pre-mil- 
lennialists,  so  expound  this  prophecy.  I  am  not  here  con- 
tending that  this  is  the  event  predicted.  All  I  say  is,  that, 
strong  as  the  language  is — as  strong  as  that  of  the  prophecy 
we  are  examining — some  of  the  ablest  and  most  judicious 
commentators  understand  by  it  a  figurative  coming  of 
Christ,  and  a  figurative  "  day  of  wrath"  against  the  Pagan 
world.* 

♦  Ex.  Gr.,  Durham,  Vitringa,  More,  Daubuz,  Lowman,  Newton 
(Bp),  Paber,  Elliott.     "The  general  :ntent  of  this  vision,"  says  Mr. 


466  OBJECTION    SECOND. 

All  the  commentators  I  refer  to  admit  that  this  and 
similar  comings  to  judgment  are  but  preludes  to  the  per- 
sonal advent  and  the  personal  judgment ;  and  such,  I  freely 
admit,  is  the  prophecy  before  us.  But  I  think  it  must 
now  be  allowed,  that  if  it  can  be  shown  that  our  Lord  meant 
nothing  else  primarily  or  immediately  but  the  judicial 
overthrow  of  Jerumlem.  there  is  nothing  in  the  mere  gran- 
deur and  strength  of  his  language  to  prevent  us  taking  that 
view  of  it.  Now  I  have  shown,  from  our  Lord's  own 
solemn  declaration,  that  the  generation  then  existing  were 
to  witness  the  fulfilment  of  the  whole  ;  and  I  have  only 
now  further  to  show  that  in  other  prophecies,  which  we 
have  inspired  authority  for  applying  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  the  same  prophetic  style  is  employed  as  in  this 
prophecy. 

"  And   it   shall   come   afterwards,"    says   Joel — or  "  in  the  last 
days,"  as    Peter    renders    the    phrase — "  that  I  will  pour 

out  my  Spirit  upon  all   flesh And  I  will  show 

wonders    in    the    heavens    and    in    the  earth,    blood,  and 
fire,  and  pillars  of  smoke.     The  sun  shall  be  turned   into 

Elliott,  for  example,  "does  not  seem  to  me  to  have  been  difficult  to  un- 
derstand. It  surely  betokened  some  sudden  and  extraordinary  revolution 
in  the  Roman  empire,  which  would  follow  chronologically  after  the  aera 
of  martyrdoms  depicted  under  the  seal  preceding — a  revolution  arising 
from  the  triumph  of  the  Christian  cause  over  its  enemies,  and  in  degree 
universal."  After  quoting,  as  illustrations  of  suoh  symbolic  phraseology, 
several  of  the  passages  which  I  gave  under  the  former  Objection,  and 
some  others,  he  adds,  "  In  which  passages,  it  will  be  well,  I  think,  to  ob- 
serve what  is  said  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord  as  manifested,  though  act- 
ing by  human  agency  ;  and  again,  of  the  day  oj"  the  Lord  and  his  fierce 
anger  being  shown  in  tht  subversion  of  the  former  political  government, 
&c.  ...  All  which  being  put  together,  there  will  not,  I  believe,  remain  a 
single  syrnbolic  phrase  in  this  prophecy  of  the  sixth  seal  unillustrated,  or 
— with  the  interpretation  referring  it  to  a  political  revolution  such  as  has 
been  given — unconfirmed  by  similar  figures  in  other  prophecies,  to  which 
the  scriptural  context  has  itself  already  furnished  a  similar  interpreta* 
tion. '     {Hor.  Apoc.  ut  supra,  i.  pp.  208,  217,  218.) 


OBJECTION    SECOND.  46T 

darkness,  and    the    moon    into    blood,    before    the  great 

AND    THE     TERRIBLE     DAY    OP    THE     LORD    COME.       And    it   Sliall 

come  to  pass,  that  whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  delivered."  &c.— (Joel  ii.  28-32.) 

The  apostle  Peter,  quoting  the  whole  of  this  passage, 
expressly  declares  that  the  first  and  the  last  parts  of  it 
were  fulfilled  at  the  Pentecostal  effusion  of  the  Spirit,  and 
the  conversions  immediately  following  it.  Evident  there- 
fore it  is,  that  the  "  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord^^ — 
bound  up  with  these  events  as  part  of  one  and  the  same 
great  chapter  of  church  history — is  no  other,  according  to 
inspiration  itself,  than  the  day  of  Jerusalem's  judicial  de- 
struction* 

Again, 

**  Behold,  I  will  send  my  messenger,  and  he  shall  prepare  the 
way  before  me  :  and  the  Lord,  whom  ye  seek,  shall  sud- 
denly come  to  his  temple,  even  the  messenger  of  the 
covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in :  behold  he  shall  come, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.    But  who  may  abide  the  day  op 

HIS     COMING  ]    AND    WHO    SHALL    STAND    WHEN    HE     APPEARETH  7 

for  he  is  like  a  refiners  fire,   and  like  fullers'  soap,"  &c. 
(Mai.  iii.  1,  2.) 
"Behold,  I  will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet  before  the  coming 
of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord :  and  he  shall  turn 


♦  "In  connection,"  says  Dr.  Henderson,  "  with  this  period  of  the  rich 
enjoyment  of  divine  influence,  Joel  introduces  one  of  awful  judgment, 
called  as  usual,  "^^'^'?  D'i'^,  the  day  of  Jehovah,  the  precursors  of  which 
he  describes  in  very  alarming  language.  That  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem and  the  Jewish  polity  is  intended,  most  interpreters  are  agreed. 
....  To  render  more  prominent  the  tremendous  nature  of  the  final 
judgment  of  the  Jews,  when  their  city  and  polity  were  destroyed,  it  is 
not  merely  called  niH"^  Dl->  but  ^5'^i2^^  binsfl  nl.Ti  ni"',  the  great  and 
fearful  day  of  Jehovah— terms  which  are  employed  by  the  prophet 
Malachi,  iv.  5  (Hebrew— iii.  23)  in  refert>jice  to  the  same  event."  (On 
the  Minor  Prophets,  ad  loe.) 


468  OBJECTION    SECOND. 

the  heart  of  the  fathers  to    the  children,"  &c.— (Chap,  iv 
5,  6.) 

Taking  the  questions  contained  in  the  first  of  these  passages 
hy  themselves^  who  would  ever  doubt  that  they  refer  to  the 
second  coming  of  Christ  and  the  last  judgment  ?  And  yet  it 
is  absolutely  certain  that  they  do  not.  He  whom  Messiah 
calls  in  this  prophecy,  "  my  messenger" — afterwards  called 
"  Elijah  the  prophet" — is  so  expressly  declared  to  be  John 
the  Baptist,  both  by  the  angel  who  announced  his  birth 
(Luke  i.  17),  and  by  our  Lord  himself  once  and  again  (Matt, 
xi.  13,  14;  xvii.  10-13),  that  no  doubt  of  this  being  the 
right  application  of  the  words  can  remain  on  the  mind  of 
any  who  bow  to  such  authority.*  Of  course,  in  that  case, 
"  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord"  can  be  no  other 
than  what  Joel  describes  in  identical  terms — the  day  of 
Jerusalem's  judicial  destruction.  When  it  is  said,  '•  The 
Lord  whom  ye  seek  shall  suddenly  come  to  his  temple — 
but  who  may  abide  the  day  of  his  coming  ?"  the  pro- 
phet refers  indeed  to  Christ's  first  coming,  but  stretches  it 
onwards  till  after  his  ascension,  and  the  awful  reckoning 
which  he  made  with  the  Jewish  nation  and  Church  for 
rejecting  him,  by  the  destruction  of  their  whole  state 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Romans. 

I  might  add  the  following :  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Ye 
shall  not  have  gone  over  the  cities  of  Israel  till  the  Son  op 

♦  "  Upon  the  circumstance  that  our  Lord  uses  the  future  tense  {ep-j(t' 
rat)  shall  come,  some  Christian  interpreters  have  attempted  to  establish 
the  hypothesis,  that  the  prophecy  is  still  to  be  fulfilled  before  his  second 
advent;  but  he  is  obviously  speaking  in  the  style  of  language  employed 
by  the  prophet,  to  whom  the  event  was  future,  and  in  adaptation  to  the 
opinion  of  the  scribes,  though  he  immediately  corrects  what  was  erro- 
neous in  their  notion,  declaring  that  the  event  was  no  longer  future,  buf 
had  actually  taken  place  in  the  person  and  ministry  of  John.  It  is  truly 
surprising  that  any  one  should  still  persist  in  giving  to  the  prophecy  an 
aspect  still  future,  in  the  very  face  of  an  exposition  at  once  positive  and 
iDliiUihle."— {Henderson.  Min.  Proph.  ad  loc.) 


OBJECTION    SECOND.  469 

MAN  BE  come"  (Matt.  X.  23) — which  Mr.  Bivks  actually 
stretches  out  to  the  second  advent !  (p.  332.)*  "  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  There  he  some  slanding  here^  which,  shall  not 
taste  of  death,  till  they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in 
his  kingdom)''  (Matt.  xvi.  28) ;  or  as  Mark  expresses  this 
coming  of  the  Son  of  man,  "  till  they  have  seen  the  king- 
dom of  God  come  with  powef^  (Mark  ix.  1);  or  more 
simply  still,  according  to  Luke,  "  till  they  see  the  kingdom  of 
God''  (Luke  ix.  27.  )t 

We  have  thus  seen  that  a  figurative  advent  of  the  Lord 
to  the  judgment  of  any  wicked  community,  is  a  familiar 
idea  in  prophetic  style ;  and  that  this  very  event,  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  is  so  described  in  several  prophe 
cies,  for  the  application  of  which  we  have  inspired  autho- 
rity :  so  that  when  our  Lord  assures  us  that  that  coming  of 
his,  and  the  judgments  announced  by  him,  would  be  wit- 
nessed by  the  generation  then  living,  we  are  prepared  by 
Scripture  itself  to  acquiesce  in  this  as  just  one  of  the  many 
examples  of  a  figurative  advent  of  Christ  to  judgment,  ex- 
pressed in  all  the  grandeur  usually  employed  to  descrik'9 
his  personal  advent  and  the  final  judgment.  \ 


*  Se  venturum  Christus  promittit,  priusquam  totam  Judaeam  peragra- 
verint:  nempe  quia  per  Spiritus  sui  potentiam  regnum  suum  illustrabit, 
ut  vere  apostolis  affulgeat  gloria  ilia  et  majestas,  quae  adhuc  eoa  latebut, 
(Calv.  ad  Ice.) 

t  The  plain  meaning  of  this  announcement,  in  all  its  varying  forms, 
is,  that  the  establishment  of  "the  kingdom  "—sometimes  called  "the 
kingdom  of  God,"  sometimes  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  but  meaning 
the  Gospel  kingdom — would  be  witnessed  by  those  of  his  auditors  who 
should  survive  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem — at  that  time  the  chief  obsta- 
cle to  its  manifestation.  The  connexion  between  this  coming  and  the 
personal  advent,  mentioned  in  immediate  connexion  with  it  (Matt,  xvi. 
27),  will  be  presenth  adverted  to.  Kut  compnre  what  is  said  of  the 
spiritual  and  bodily  resurrections  in  John  v.  24-29. 

X  "  Many  attempts,"  says  Dr.  Urwick,  "  have  been  made  to  anatomize 
this  prophecy,  and  exhibit  separately  the  parts  which  relate  to  the  inv* 
2r 


470  OBJECTION    SECOND. 

On  this  prophetic  phraseology,  no  ono  has  written  with 
such  clearness  and  force  as  Mr.  Faber.  The  following 
passage  is  well  worthy  of  the  reader's  attention  : — 

"  The  judicial  punishment  or  destruction  of  a  nation  is  to  that 
nation  the  day  of  judgment,  or  the  great  day  of  the  Lord's  con- 
troversy, or  the  day  of  the  Lord's  judicial  advent:  for  in  the 
very  nature  of  things,  to  no  other  judgment  can  a  nation,  as  a 
nation,  be  subjected.  This  circumstance  has  introduced  a  sys- 
tem of  very  peculiar  phraseology  into  the  writings  of  the  He- 
brew prophets.  Wicked  nations  have  their  day  of  judgment  in 
this  world ;  when,  in  their  national  capacity,  they  are  arraigned, 
and  convicted,  and  temporally  punished.  Wicked  individiials 
have  their  day  of  judgment  at  the  end  of  this  world  ;  when  Christ, 
at  the  time  of  his  second  advent  to  judge  both  the  quick  and  the 
dead,  will  finally  pronounce  upon  each  person  his  irrevocable 
sentence  of  happiness  or  of  misery.  The  similarity  of  these  two 
judgments,  in  regard  to  principle^  could  not  be  overlooked  . 
hence,  in  a  mode  of  composition  which  specially  affects  hiero- 
glyphical  grandiloquence,  we  shall  not  wonder  to  find  that  all 
the  solemnities  of  the  future  literal  day  of  judgment,  such  as  the 
second  advent  of  the  Messiah,  the  erection  of  his  dread  tribunal, 
his  awful  session  as  an  universal  Judge,  his  infliction  of  punish- 
ment upon  the  impious,  and  his  award  of  retribution  to  the 
pious,  should  be  employed,  symbolically,  to  represent  the  tempo- 


sion  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  and  the  parts  which  regard  the  judgment  of 
•he  world  at  the  last  day.  I  have  not  met  with  any  thing  satisfactory  in 
this  way.  If  any  man  could  have  done  it  well,  Bishop  Horsley  was  the 
man  :  he  had  learning,  ingenuity,  power,  and  determination  enough  for 
it.  Yet  one  cannot  read  the  sermon  in  which  he  attempts  to  separate 
the  prophecy  of  the  '  coming'  from  the  prophecy  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  without  feeling  that  a  giant  is  grappling  with  a  difficulty  he 
cannot  master.  The  statement  of  our  Lord,  'Verily  I  say  utito  you,  This 
generation  shall  not  pass  till  these  things  be  fulfilled,'  puts  it,  I  think, 
beyond  question,  that  the  whole  range  of  the  prediction  was  to  have  an 
accomplishment  before  the  then  race  of  human  beings  should  all  hav« 
died  from  the  facs  of  the  earth."     (Second  Advent,  p.  5,  note.) 


OBJECTION    SECOND.  471 

rnZ  judgment  of  a  wicked  nation,  and  the  temporal  deliverance  of 
God's  faithful  people,  on  this  present  sublunary  globe.  In  short, 
the  literal  future  judgment  both  of  the  quick  and  of  the  dead, 
and  the  literal  second  advent  of  Christ  with  the  clouds  of  hea- 
ven, are  poetically,  though  appropriately,  used  as  a  type,  or  sym- 
bol, or  hieroglyphic,  of  any  eminent  judgment  inflicted  here  be- 
low upon  any  impious  nation  or  community,  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  those  secondary  causes  which  God  may  be  pleased  to 
call  into  effective  actio?  "* 

On  the  distinction  here  so  clearly  drawn  between  public 
bodies  or  communities — whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical — and 
individual  persons^  Mr  Faber  deduces  the  following  canon 
for  determining  whether  the  advent  and  judgment  an- 
nounced in  any  prophecy  is  to  be  understood  literally  or 
figuratively. 

''  When  the  judgment  of  some  distinctly  specified,  or 
plainly  insinuated,  wicked  empire  or  community  is  de- 
scribed, as  being  effected  by  the  coming  of  the  great  day  of 
retribution,  and  by  the  advent  of  the  Lord  with  the  clouds 
of  heaven,  then  the  temporal  judgment  of  that  particular 
empire  or  community  is  alone  intended,  and  the  language 
in  which  it  is  set  forth  must  be  understood  figuratively^  not 
literally.  But  when  the  judgment  of  no  distinctly  speci- 
fied, or  plainly  insinuated  empire  or  community  is  thus  de- 
scribed, then  the  coming  of  the  great  day  of  retribution, 
and  the  advent  of  the  Lord  with  the  clouds  of  lieaven — 
being  mentioned  generally  with  reference  to  the  whole 
world,  and  not  particularly  with  reference  to  some  special 
body  politic — must  be  understood  literally,  not  figuia- 
tively?'  t 

This  canon,  founded  upon  a  distinction  wliich  pervades 
the    whole    language  of    Scripture,  will  commend  itself,  I 

*  Sacred  Calendar,  i.  225-227. 
t  Sac.  Ca    ill.  466. 


472  OBJECTION    THIRD. 

believe,  to  the  judgment  of  every  dispassionate  student  of 
the  Bible,  in  proportion  as  it  is  closely  tested. 

OBJECTION  THIRD: 

"  A  full  and  distinct  narrative  of  the  Lord's  appearing 
from  heaven  is  detailed  by  the  prophet  [in  the  Apocalypse] 
just  before  the  millennium,  and  forms  its  immediate  intro- 
duction. (Rev.  xix.  10.)  On  the  other  hand,  after  the 
millennium  there  is  not  found  one  syllable  in  the  prophecy 
expressive  of  such  an  advent.  The  testimony  of  this  fun- 
damental vision  [to  the  pre-millennial  advent]  is  decisive 
and  complete."* 

"It  may  be  affirmed,  no  doubt,"  adds  the  acute  author  just 
quoted,  "  that  the  advent  in  chap.  xix.  is  figurative  only,  and  that 
a  real  advent  occurs  after  the  millennium,  when  Satan  has  been 
loosed,  and  the  fire  descends  from  heaven.  But  the  stubborn 
fact  remains  unaltered,  that  the  vision  expressly  reveals  an  ad- 
vent in  the  former  place,  and  in  the  latter  passes  it  by  in  silence. 
To  maintain  the  theory,  we  have  to  commit  a  double  violence: 
we  have  to  explain  away  the  advent  where  it  appears  openly 
and  in  plain  terms,  in  the  prophecy ;  and  we  have  to  introduce 
it  where  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  no  token  of  its  occurrence.  It  is 
difficult  to  see  how  any  interpretation  could  be  censured  with 
more  justice  as  both  adding  to  and  taking  away  from  the  words 
of  the  prophecy.  Let  any  Christian  read  the  two  chapters  in 
question  (Rev.  xix.  xx.),  laying  aside  every  previous  notion,  and 
with  a  simple  desire  to  hear  the  voice  of  God's  Spirit,  and  I  see  not 
how  he  can  escape  from  the  evident  conclusion.  The  second  advent 
of  our  Lord,  as  described  in  the  latest  prophecy  of  Scripture,  does 
not  follow,  but  precedes,  the  millennial  kingdom." 

This  is  strong  language  certainly,  and  it  will  be  admitted 
that  the  objection  is  put  as  forcibly  as  possible.  Let  ua 
examine  it  then. 

♦  Birks'  Four  Prophetic  Empires,  ut  supra,  pji.  329,  330. 


OBJECTION    THIRD.  473 

What  is  this  "  full  and  distinct  narrative  of  the  Lord's 
appearing  from  heaven,"  which  is  ^^  detailed'^  in  Rev.  xix.  ? 
It  is  as  follows  : 

"  And  I  saw  heaven  opened,  and  behold  a  white  horse ;  and 
h«  that  sat  upon  him  was  called  Faithful  and  True,  and  in 
righteousness  he  doth  judge  and  "make  war.  His  eyes 
were  as  a  tlame  of  tire,  and  on  his  head  were  many  crowns ; 
and  he  had  a  name  wriHen,  that  no  man  knew  but  he 
himself.  And  he  was  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in 
blood:  and  his  name  is  called  The  Word  of  God.  And 
the  armies  which  were  in  heaven  followed  him  upon  white 
horses,  clothed  in  fine  linen,  white  and  clean.  And  out 
of  his  mouth  goeth  a  sharp  sword,  that  with  it  he  should 
smite  the  nations:  and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of 
iron:  and  he  treadeth  the  winepress  of  the  fierceness  and 
wrath  of  Almighty  God.  And  he  hath  on  his  vesture  and 
on  his  thigh  a  name  written,  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of 
Lords.  .  .  .  And  I  saw  the  beast,  and  the  kings  of 
the  earth,  and  their  armies,  gathered  together  to  make 
war  against  him  that  sat  on  the  horse,  and  against  his 
army.  And  the  beast  was  taken,  and  with  him  the  false 
prophet  that  wrought  miracles  before  him  with  which  he 
deceived  them  that  had  received  the  mark  of  the  beast, 
and  them  that  worshipped  his  image.  These  both  were 
cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone.  And 
the  remnant  were  slain  with  the  sword  of  him  that  sat  upon 
the  horse,  which  sword  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth  :  and  all 
the  fowls  were  filled  with  their  flesh." — (Rev,  xix.  11-16, 
19-21.) 

Tnily  there  is  "  detail "  here ;  but  this  is  the  very  thing 
which  shows  it  not  to  be  the  personal  coming  of  Christ. 
For  where,  let  me  ask,  is  there  one  undisputed,  unequivocal 
announcement  of  Christ' 3  second  personal  coming  in  which 
such  details  oc(mr,  or  ariy  details  at  all  1  All  we  read 
is  just  the  fact  of  his  o:)ming.  And  no  wonder ;  for  as  it 
2r3 


474  OBJECTION     ifilRP. 

will  be  sudden,  so  it  will  be  instantaneous  and  miiversaUy 
visible.  "  The  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his 
Father  with  his  angels  ;"  "  To  them  that  look  for  him  shall 
he  appear,  without  sin,  unto  salvation  ;  "  "  He  shall  come  to 
be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all  them  that  be- 
lieve ;  "  "  Looking  for  the  blessed  hope,  and  the  glorious 
appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ ;  " 
"  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye 
also,"  &c.  ;  and  even  in  the  Apocalypse  itself,  "  Behold,  he 
Cometh  with  clouds,  and  every  eye  shall  see  him,"  &c. 

Is  there  aught  of  "  detail  "  here  ?  Why,  the  absence  of 
all  detail  is  just  the  most  sublime  feature  of  each  of  these 
announcements  of  Christ's  second  coming.  Only  think 
how  it  would  do  to  prefix  to  any  one  of  them  what  Mr. 
Birks  flays  of  Eev.  xix.  11,  &c. — "  A  full  and  distinct  nar- 
rative of  the  Lord's  appearing  is  here  detailed  by  the  pro- 
phet." The  incongruity  is  apparent.  I  draw,  therefore, 
just  the  opposite  inference  from  Mr.  Birks.  The  narrative 
and  detailed  character  of  this  vision  convinces  him  it  is 
a  vision  of  the  second  advent ;  and  that  is  just  the  thii«^ 
that  convinces  me  it  is  not  the  second  advent. 

But  further,  what  can  you  possibly  make  of  this  as  a 
vision  of  the  second  advent  1  Will  Christ  personally  and 
visibly  fight  against  '•  the  beast  and  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
and  their  armies,"  personally  and  visibly  gathered  together 
against  him  1  "  We  know  (says  Mr.  Gipps,)  the  overwhelm- 
ing effects  produced  by  the  manifestation  of  Christ's  glory, 
or  of  portions  as  it  were  of  that  glory,  upon  those  who 
beheld  such  manifestation,  some  of  whom  were  his  own 
saints,  puch  as  in  Dan.  x.  6—9  ;  and  at  his  transfiguration, 
Mark  ix.  6,  Luke  ix.  32-34.  We  are  informed  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  one  of  his  angels  at  his  resurrection,  and  of  its 
effect  upon  the  guard  of  Boman  soldiers  (Matt,  xxviii.  3, 
i^ :  Af  the  effect  of  his  appearance  to  Paul  and  his  com- 


OBJECTION    THIRD.  475 

panions  (Acts  ix.  3-7,  xxii.  9-11);  and  lastly,  of  his  ap- 
pearance to  John  himself  (Rev.  i.  17),  the  glory  of  which 
was  so  overwhelming  to  him,  although  he  was  the  beloved 
disciple,  and  leaned  upon  Jesus'  breast  when  manifest  in 
his  humiliation  as  man,  that  John  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead. 
Can  we,  I  would  ask,  when  we  read  these  accounts,  con- 
ceive, that  when  Jesus  comes  in  person  in  his  own  glory, 
and  that  of  his  Father,  with  all  his  holy  angels,  any  created 
being,  any  worm  of  the  earth,  any  sinful  child  of  man,  will 
either  dare  or  be  able  to  make  war  against  him  in  his  per- 
son ?  The  very  absurdity  involved  in  this  idea  would  of 
itself  prove  to  my  mind  that  the  event  foretold  in  chap. 
xix.  11,  &c.,  cannot  be  the  second  or  any  personal  coming 
of  Christ."* 

But  it  may  be  said,  if  this  be  not  the  second  advent, 
where  does  it  occur  in  the  Apocalypse  after  this  ?  "  After 
the  millennium  (says  Mr.  Birks)  there  is  not  found  one 
syllable  in  the  prophecy  expressive  of  such  an  advent." 
True,  for  this  is  symbolical  and  figurative  ;  and  it  would 
be  somewhat  difficult  to  conceive  how  the  personal  descent 
of  Christ  from  heaven  to  earth  could  be  symbolically  repre- 
sented. But  when  I  read  thus,  "  And  I  saw  [after  the 
millennium]  a  great  white  throne,  and  Him  that  sat  on  it, 
from  whose  face  ( or  presence.^  irpoaanrov )  the  earth  and  the 
heaven  fled  away,  and  there  was  found  no  place  for  them," 
and  connect  this  with  Peter's  announcement,  "  The  day  of 
the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief,  in  the  which  the  heavens 
shall  pass  away,  and  the  earth  and  its  works  be  burnt  up," 
(2  Pet.  iii.  10),  I  see  the  Lord  personally  present  in  the 
one  passage,  while  the  other  informs  me  he  has  only  then 
come.  Thus  no  attempt  is  made  in  the  Apocalypse  to  pic- 
ture by  symbols  the  personal  advent,  but  in  place  of  it  he 
is  beheld  in  his  great  white  throne — just  come  ;  with  which 

*  First  Resurrection,  ut  supra,  pp.  6,  7,  note  D. 


476  OBJECTION    FOURTH. 

agree  the  words  of  Jesus  himself,  "  When  the  Son  of  man 
shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him, 
then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory."  (Matt. 
XXV.  31.) 

OBJECTION  FOURTH : 

When  the  beloved  disciple  beheld  the  redeemed  in  vision, 
sitting  on  thrones,  with  golden  crowns  upon  their  heads, 
and  heard  the  halleluiahs  which  they  poured  into  the  ear 
of  the  Lamb,  the  last  note,  it  seems,  of  their  song  of  praise 
was,  "We  shall  reign  on  the  earth."     (Rev.  v.  10.) 

This  passage  is  quoted  in  almost  every  defence  of  the 
pre-millennial  theory,  but  without  an  attempt  to  show  that 
it  proves  any  thing  which  we  deny — as  if  the  sound  of  it 
were  quite  enough  to  convince  the  reader  that  it  belonged 
exclusively  to  that  scheme.  Now,  in  order  to  make  this 
out,  two  things  must  be  proved.  First,  That  the  reign  here 
anticipated  means  the  personal  reign  of  those  who  sang  this 
song  of  praise  to  the  Lamb ;  and  secondly,  That  it  means 
their  reign  during  the  thousand  years,  and  not  in  the  eter- 
nal state.  Many,  who  reject  the  pre-millennial  theory  as 
wholly  unscriptural,  understand  the  words  "  We  shall  reign 
on  the  earth,"  to  refer  to  the  glory  of  the  redeemed  in  "  the 
new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteous- 
ness."*    In  this  case,  the  passage  proves  nothing  in  favour 

*  "  What,"  says  Mr.  Fairbairn^  "  can  we  make  of  the  ascription  of 
praise  from  the  elders,  representatives  of  a  redeemed  Church,  when  they 
give  glory  to  the  Messiah,  as  having  '  made  them  kings  and  priests  unto 
God,  and  they  shall  reign  upon  the  earth  T  Or  what  of  the  closing  scenes, 
where  the  evangelist  sees  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  in  the  room  of 
those  which  had  passed  away,  and  the  New  Jerusalem  coming  down  out 

of  heaven  to  settle  on  the  renovated  earth  7 We  cannot  doubt  who 

are  kings  and  priests,  or  with  whom  they  are  to  reign  ;  and  it  were  surely 
strange  if  there  could  be  any  doubt  of  the  theatre  of  their  dominion; 
"When  it  is  so  expressly  denominated  the  earth.''  (Typology,  vol.  i.  pp 
467,  478.) 


OBJECTION    FOURTH.  477 

of  the  pre-millennial  scheme.  But  T  am  not  satisfied  with 
this  view  of  the  passage.  I  agree  with  Durham.  March, 
Vilringa,  Lowman,  and  the  majority  (I  take  it)  of  exact 
expositors,  who  take  thie  to  be  a  vision  of  the  Church,  not 
in  its  disembodied  state,  but  as  it  now  is,  upon  earth,  with 
the  Lamb  slain  enthroned  in  the  midst  of  it,  and  "  inhabiting 
its  praises"  (Ps.  xxii.  3),  "sending  forth  into  all  the  earlK'' 
those  mystic  "  horns  and  eyes"  of  his — that  sevenfold 
plenitude  of  fower  and  wisdom,  for  the  ingathering  of  his 
elect  "  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and 
nation,"  and  for  the  protecting,  ruling,  and  perfecting  of 
the  gathered  Church  "  unto  the  day  of  redemption."  In 
this  case,  the  anticipations  of  the  Church,  in  the  words 
we  are  considering,  relate  more  to  the  ultimate  triumphs  of 
Chrisfs  cause  upon  earth  during  the  present  state,  than  to 
the  glorified  condition  of  the  saints.  It  is  not  "  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect "  anticipating  this  resumption  of 
their  bodies  in  the  resurrection-state,  and  their  reign  with 
Christ  in  glory  on  the  earth  when  that  state  arrives ;  but 
it  is  the  infant  Church  of  Christ  in  flesh  and  blood,  strug- 
gling against  "  tribulation,  and  persecution,  and  peril,  and 
sword,  for  Christ's  sake,  killed  all  the  day  long,  and  ac- 
counted as  sheep  for  the  slaughter,  unable,  without  miracles 
of  divine  interposition  and  relief,  to  survive  the  combined 
and  protracted  assaults  of  her  enemies,  much  less  to  over- 
power them,  to  carry  all  before  her,  to  subdue  the  world 
under  her  religion  and  her  Lord,  and  reign  with  undisputed 
sway  over  the  whole  earth.  Yet  this  is  anticipated  as  cer- 
tain, and  joyously  sung  by  the  choir  of  throned  elders — 
bright  earnest  of  the  "  reign  for  ever  and  ever,"  when  '•  that 
which  is  perfect  being  come,  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be 
done  away."  * 

*  See  the  extracts  from  Marckius  and  Vitringa  on  this  sense  of  th« 
,  pp.  437,  438,  note. 


478  OBJECTION    FIFTH. 

OBJECTION  FIFTH : 

Christ  assures  the  twelve,  that  "  in  the  regeneration^ 
when  the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  in  the  throne  of  his  glory ; 
they  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel."  (Matt.  xix.  28;  Luke  xxii.  30.)  Now, 
"what  (asks  Mr.  Elliott)  is  the  regeneration  {jtaXiyyevtaia^ 
spoken  of,  but  the  state  when  Christ  shall  make  all  things 
new  (Rev.  xxi.  5),  and  this  earth  be  restored  to  paradisia- 
cal blessedness?  In  which  state,  however,  and  over 
which  renovated  earth,  Christ  here  declares  that  the 
apostles  (evidently  raised  from  the  dead  for  the  purpose) 
shall,  together  with  their  Lord,  have  the  authority  and 
government."* 

Expressed  in  this  general  form,  there  is  nothing  here 
which  I  am  disposed  to  object  to.  But  the  passage  is  ad 
duced  to  show  that  the  state  of  glory  will  be  co-existent 
with  the  restored  nationality  of  the  Israelites  ;  and  that, 
while  inhabiting  Palestine  in  flesh  and  blood,  they  will  be 
under  the  rule  of  the  twelve  glorified  apostles.  To  such 
an  interpretation  I  demur.  Not  a  single  commentator 
that  I  can  find  takes  this  view  of  it,  or  seems  to  have 
imagined  that  such  a  construction  might  be  put  upon  it.-| 

*  Hor.  Apoc.  ut  supra,  iv.  207.  See  also  Birks,  ut  supra,  p.  333, 
t  This  remark  applies  even  to  Bengel,  who  of  all  expositors  of  note 
was  the  most  likely,  from  his  prophetical  opinions,  to  take  some  such 
view.  After  stating  that,  as  '•  in  the  time  of  the  Judges,  the  Israelites 
were  under  a  theocracy,  so  in  the  prior  millennium,  their  enemies  beinor 
cut  off',  the  restored  Israel  will  have  Judges,  Is;i.  i.  26,"  he  adds,  *'  But 
this  promise  to  the  apostles  looks  beyond  that.''^  (Bengel,  by  the  way,  with 
one  or  two  early  students  of  prophecy,  took  '*  the  thousand  years  of 
Satan's  binding,"  Rev.  xx.  2,  3,  to  be  not  the  same  with  •'  the  thousand 
years  of  the  saints'  reign  with  Christ,"  verse  4;  and  thought  the  one 
millennium  would  be  prior  to  the  other,  and  both  before  the  second  ad- 
vent. In  this  respect,  their  views  coincide  so  far  with  those  of  Perry 
aiid  others.) 


OBJECTION    FIFTH.  479 

Nor  do  I  find  pre  millennialists  themselves  making  any  use 
of  it  in  their  scheme.  Several  of  them  draw  out  the  de- 
tails of  the  millennial  kingdom,  as  they  expect  it  to  be, 
with  considerable  minuteness  Mr.  Elliott^  for  example, 
does  so*  But  though  he  opens  up  a  vision  of  earth  and 
heaven — mortal  and  immortal — meeting  together,  blending 
seemingly  into  one,  or  interlacing  each  other  so  that  the 
mind  is  bewildered  as  it  tries  to  fix  the  fleeting  shadows  of 
his  half-poetic,  half-mystic,  half-expository  representation 
— this  feature  of  twelve  thrones,  one  for  each  of  the  apos- 
tles, from  which  to  exercise  rule  over  the  twelve  tribes  of 
the  re-constituted  Israel  in  Palestine,  forms  no  part  of  it. 
He  speaks  of  "  the  perfected  company  of  the  redeemed,  the 
general  assembly,  the  glorified  sons  of  God,"  being  "  en- 
trusted with  the  new  earth's  government,  subordinately  to 
Christ  himself"  But  nothing  of  these  "  apostolic  thrones" 
appears  in  his  description.  Even  Mr.  Birks,  though  he 
deduces  an  argument  from  this  passage,  seems  not  to  rely 
greatly  on  it,  but  merely  says  it  points,  not  obscurely.^  to 
the  truth  he  is  contending  for  (that  the  advent  will  precede 
the  millennium.) 

"  Lest,"  says  Calvin,  "  the  disciples  should  think  they  had 
lost  their  pains,  and  repent  of  the  course  they  had  entered  on, 
Christ  reminds  them  that  the  glory  of  his  kingdom,  which  as  yet 
lay  hidden,  would  come  into  manifestation,  as  if  he  had  said, 
There  is  no  reason  why  this  mean  condition  should  discourage 
you;  for  I,  who  scarcely  have  a  place  among  the  basest,  shall 
yet  mount  the  throne  of  majesty.  Wait,  then,  for  a  little  while, 
till  the  time  for  the  manifestation  of  my  glory  shall  arrive. 
What,  then,  does  he  promise  them  1  Why,  that  they  should  be 
partakers  of  the  same  glory.  For  by  assigning  them  thrones, 
from  which  they  should  judge  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  he 
compares  them  to  ambassadors  or  prime  ministers,  who  in  a 
royal  council  occupy  the  first  seats.     We  know  that  the  apostles 

*  Hor.  Apoc.  ut  supra,  pp.  240-242. 


480  OBJECTION    FIFTH. 

were  chosen  twelve  in  number,  that  thereby  it  might  be  seen 
that  God  designed  by  Clirist  to  gather  together  the  scattered 
remnant  of  his  people.  This  was  the*  highest  dignity;  but  it  lay 
as  yet  concealed.  Clirist  therefore  suspends  their  expectations 
till  the  final  manifestation  of  his  kingdom,  when  they  should  at 
length  reap  the  fruit  of  their  election.  For  though  by  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  the  kingdom  of  Christ  shone  partially 
forth,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Christ  here  speaks  of  the  last 

day In  order  to  prevent  mistake,  Christ  distinguishes 

between  the  commencement  and  the  consummation  of  his  king- 
dom." * 

"  Then,"  says  Scott,  "  he  will  make  all  things  new,  and  the 
apostles  will  be  his  assessors  in  judgment ;  the  world  and  the  Church 
will  be  judged  according  to  their  doctrine,  and  they  will  appear  dis- 
tinguished from  all  their  brethren  in  Christ." 

"In  the  day,"  says  Bishop  Hall,  "of  the  great  restoration 
of  all  things,  when  the  elect  shall  enter  on  a  new  life  of  un- 
speakable glory,  even  in  that  great  and  dreadful  day  when 
the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  upon  his  throne  of  majesty  to  judge 
the  quick  and  the  dead,  then  shall  ye,  my  apostles,  who  are  now 
despicable  and  mean,  have  the  honour  to  sit  upon  several  thrones,  to 
second  and  assist  this  awful  act  of  final  judgment  on  the  rebellious 
Israel."  f 

I  quote  these  passages,  not  as  expressing  the  sense  of 
our  Lord's  words  precisely  as  I  should  myself  perhaps  do ; 
but  as  showing  how,  amidst  varying  shades  of  thought  upon 
the  "  twelve  tribes"  and  .'-twelve  thrones,"  the  same  gene- 
ral idea  prevails  among  expositors.  Calvin's  remarks  coin- 
cide most  with  the  view  which  I  have  been  led  to  take  of 
the  passage 

*  In  Nov.  Test.  Comm.  ad  ioc.—See  also  Marckii  Expect.  Glor.  Fut. 
J.  Chr.  L.  iii.  c.  xvi.  §  xii.— xiv. 

t  Quoted  in  Scott's  Commentary.  To  much  the  same  effect,  Dodd* 
ridge. 


OBJECTION    SIXTH.  481 


OBJECTION  SIXTH  : 

In  1  Cor.  XV.  23,  24,  "  three  events  are  specified,  sepa- 
rated by  two  marks  of  sequence  in  time.  There  is  the  re- 
surrection of  Christ,  the  first-fruits — an  event  prior  by 
at  least  1800  years  to  the  second  advent.  There  is  after- 
ward, at  the  coming  of  Christ,  the  resurrection  of  them 
that  are  His.  Afterward  there  oometh  the  end,  at  the  final 
resurrection.  '  Christ  the  first-fruits ;  afterward  (c«tra) 
they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming;  then  (etra^  cometh 
the  end,'  &e.  The  terms  of  order  naturally  imply  an  inter- 
val like  that  between  the  resurrection  of  Christ  and  his 
advent,  to  ensue  between  the  advent  itself  and  that  end  iu 
which  death  is  to  be  destroyed."* 

This  argument,  though  found  in  almost  every  defence  of 
the  pre-millennial  theory,  is  of  the  slenderest  possible  de- 
scription. 

*'  The  words  eiro  and  sksito"  says  a  sensible  reviewer  quoted 
by  Dr.  Hamilton,  "as  well  as  their  English  equivalents  {l/Len  and 
aftc7icarr/s),  when  they  happen  to  denote  sequence  of  time,  may 
denote  any  sequence  you  please,  either  immediate  or  remote, 
either  that  in  which  the  events  follow  each  other  rapidly,  or  that 
in  which  they  follow  each  other  slowly  and  consequently  at  long 
intervals.  You  may  say  properly  enough,  a  man  v/inked  fost 
witli  the  one  eye,  tJteii  with  the  other,  and  after  tfiat  with  the  other 
again ;  and  you  may  say  with  equal  propriety,  the  world  was  first 
made,  then  was  it  drowned  with  the  deluge,  and  aftei'wo/nls  it  will 
be  coTisuuied  by  fire.  The  tken  and  the  afierwards  are  precisely 
the  same  in  both  these  cases,  although  in  the  one  case  each  in- 
terval of  the  sequence  occupies  only  the  twinkling  of  an  eye, 
while  in  the  other  it  occupies  many  centuries,  or  even  millen- 
niums. There  is  therefore  nothing  to  be  made  of  the  stubborn 
adverbs.  Interrogate  them  as  you  please,  you  are  never  a  whit 
the  wiser.     They  will  not  tell  you  either  how  short  or  how  long 

•  Birks'  Proph.  Emp.,  ut  supra^  pp.  339,  340. 
28 


482  OBJECTION    SIXTH. 

how  near  or  how  distant ;  and,  if  you  want  information  on  thesa 
points,  you  must  look  to  some  other  quarter."* 

"  I  cannot,"  says  Mr.  Gipps,  "  find  any  passage  in  which  the. 
interval  of  time  between  two  events,  whose  order  is  marked  by 
the  word  eira,  the7i,  is  a  long  interval.!  We  have  in  this  chapter 
two  verses  in  which  two  events  are  noticed,  that  follow  one 
another  in  order,  but  are  separated  by  a  long  internal — viz.,  v. 
23,  in  which  the  resurrection  of  Christ  and  the  resurrection  of 
his  people  are  noticed ;  and  v.  46,  in  which  the  succession  of  the 
spiritual  bodies  of  believers  after  their  natural  bodies  is  noticed. 
In  each  of  these  verses,  the  event  in  the  first  part  is  separated 
from  that  which  follows  in  the  latter  part,  hy  a.  lo7ig  interval ;  and 
in  each  the  order  of  time  is  denoted,  not  by  the  adverb  etra,  but 
by  another  adverb  eveiTa.  And  we  may  observe,  that  while  there 
is  an  order  of  succession  between  the  three  events  noticed  in 
verses  23  and  24  (namely,  1.  The  resurrection  of  Christ ;  2.  The 
resurrection  of  his  people  ;  3.  The  end)  ;  yet  the  adverb  ereira 
— denoting  the  order  of  succession  between  the  first  two  (Christ's 
resurrection  and  that  of  his- people)  where  the  interval  is  long — 
is  no  longer  used  to  denote  the  order  of  succession  in  the  latter  two 
events  (the  resurrection  of  Christ's  people,  and  the  end),  but  is 
changed  for  tira,  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  marking  to  us  that 
though  there  is  a  regularity  of  order  in  the  three  events  thus 
noticed,  yet  there  is  not  a  regularity  as  to  the  length  of  interval ; 
so  that  the  adverb  suited  to  denote  a  long  interval  {tntiTo)  in  v. 
23,  is  changed  in  v.  24  to  ttra,  an  adverb  suited  to  denote  a  short 
interval,  as  the  instances  given  below,  I  think,  prove.  As  far, 
therefore,  as  we  can  collect  any  argument  from  the  use  of  the 
adverbs,  rr«ra  and  cira,  in  this  passage,  it  would  lead  me  to  con- 
clude, that  while  the  interval  between  the  first  two  events — the  re- 
suiTCction  of  Christ,  and  that  of  his  people — has  been  in  our  view 
long;  the  interval  between  the  last  two — the  resurrection  of  Christ's 


♦  Modern  Millennarians,  pp   187,  188. 

t  "  Upon  that  point,  however,  the  reader  can  judge  for  himself  by  re- 
ferring to  the  following  passages,  which  are,  I  believe,  all  in  which  ura 
occurs: — Mark  iv.  17,  28,  viii.  25;  Luke  viii.  12;  John  xiu.  5,  xix.  27, 
XX.  27;  1  Cor.  xn.  28,  xv.  5,  7;  1  Tim.  ii.  13,  iii.  10;  Heb.  xii.  9;  Jamea 
i  15." 


OBJECTION    SEVENTH. 

people  and  the  end — will  be  one  which  in  our  view  would  be  es- 
teemed short."* 

OBJECTION  SEVENTH: 
The  "  rest,"  or  sabbatism  ( ffappaTKTfios ),  which  the 
apostle  says  "remaineth  for  the  people  of  God"  (Heb.  iv. 
9) — meaning  the  departed  saints — seems  to  indicate 
some  septenary  of  time,  the  which  could  scarce  be  any 
other  than  the  seventh  millennium  of  the  world.  Now, 
without  entering  at  all  minutely  into  chronological  details, 
it  is  evident  from  our  present  actual  position  near  the  end, 
on  the  lowest  computation,  of  the  worl<Vs  sixth  millenary^ 
that  were  we  to  postpone  its  commencement  yet  a  thousand 
years — in  other  words,  were  we  to  admit  of  a  millennium 
of  earthly  bliss  still  intervening  before  the  departed  saints' 
entrance  on  their  promised  blessedness — then  their  rest,  even 
though  this  millennium  were  to  begin  instantly,  would  be 
postponed  long  after  the  opening  of  the  seventh  millennary ; 
and  consequently  be,  in  the  more  proper  and  etymological 
sense  of  the  term,  no  sabbatism."t 

I  should  not  have  noticed  this  objection,  but  for  the 
quarter  from  which  it  comes.  The  following  is,  I  think, 
more  than  sufl&cient  reply  : 

1.  It  is  incredible  to  me  that  the  blessedness  of  de- 
parted saints  should  be  expressed  by  any  term  denoting  a 
limited  period  of  time,  and  expressly  intended  to  be  under- 
stood of  that  definite  period.  Even  pre-millennialists 
themselves,  when  asked  how  it  could  be  said  of  the  risen 
and  glorified  saints  that  "they  lived  and  reigned  with 
Christ  a  thousand  years,"  are  wont  to  reply  that  this  period 
has  no  reference  to  them  and  their  glory,  but  only  to  the 
mortal  and   terrestrial  department  of  the  kingdom  under 

*  First  Resurrection,  pp.  46,  47,  note  Q,— slightly  altered  in  the  style. 
t  Elliott's  Hor.  Apoc,  ut  supra,  iv.  215. 


484 


OBJECTION    SEVENTH. 


their  rule  ;  and  though  this  looks  too  like  a  door  by  which 
to  escape  from  a  difficulty,  seeing  it  is  expressly  said  that 
it  is  the  living  and  reigning  of  these  saints  themselves  which 
is  to  last  thus  long,  still  it  shows  that  the  difficulty  is  felt, 
and  must  somehow  be  got  over.  But  here  Mr.  Elliot  will 
have  us  to  take  this  "  sabbatism" — though  "  applied  (he 
says)  to  the  departed  saints'  expected  rest" — to  express  a 
septenary  of  time,  and  founds  on  this  supposed  sense  an 
argument  for  its  reference  to  the  seventh  millennium  of 
the  world  ! 

2.  Independently  of  this,  the  argument  is  without  a  sha- 
dow of  foundation.  For  God's  holy  day,  as  every  one  knows, 
is  called  the  Sabbath^  not  from  its  being  a  septennary  of 
time,  but  from  the  rest  enjoined  and  enjoyed  on  it — (from 
naiu ,  to  rest).  From  this  came  the  Greek  word  to  sabba- 
tize,  or  keep  sabbath  (ffa/?/?ari^w^  Exod.  xvi.  30,  Ixx), 
and  our  word  here,  sabbatism,  or  sabbath-keeping,  mean- 
ing, as  many  think,  the  celestial  and  eternal  repose  of  the 
saints  with  God,*  but  as  I  rather  think — with  Calvin  and 
others — -the  present  rest  which  is  the  portion  of  believers  in 
Jesus,  of  which  it  is  said  in  the  same  chapter  (ver.  3), 
"  We  who  have  believed  do  enter  into  rest"  (staepx^l'^^'^ — 
•t  wiffTsvffai'rEjJj  and  of  which  Jesus  himself  says,  "  Come 
unto  me  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden  and  I  will 
give  you  rest."  Of  this  rest,  heaven  is  indeed  the  consum- 
mation ;  but  so  far  from  its  being  untasted  here,  it  is  a  re- 
pose to  which  (as  Calvin  says  on  the  passage)  God  invites 
us  every  day. 


These,  I  think,  are  all  the  objections  to  the  doctrine  of 

*  So  Bengel:  In  tempore  sunt  sabbata  multa;  sed  turn  erit  sabbatis- 
mus,  agitatio  quietis  una,  perfecta,  aeterna,  Verbale  eniphaseos  plenissi- 

mum Non  erit  elementare  sabbatum  in  ccelo,  sabbato  quippe  ter« 

restri  labore ;  sed  quies  perpetua,  &c. 


OTHER    OBJECTIONS GENERAL    REPLY.  485 

this  book  deserving  of  notice,  wliicli  have  not  been  antici- 
pated and  replied  to  in  the  two  foregoing  parts.  I  had  in- 
tended to  take  up  one  or  two  more,  which  Mr.  Birks  urges. 
But  they  all  resolve  themselves,  I  see,  into  one,  already 
examined  pretty  fully  in  the  first  part  of  this  volume — 
namely,  that  the  New  Testament  affords  no  ground  for  ex- 
pecting ''■  universal  holiness  to  last  for  a  long  time  before 
the  Lord  shall  come,"  and  gives  no  intimation  that  the 
corn-field  of  the  Church  will  be  cleansed  or  purified  long 
before  the  separation  in  judgment.*  In  this  I  perfectly 
agree.  I  expect  no  period — long  or  short — of  "  universal 
holiness"  before  Christ  come.  Does  Mr.  Birks  himself 
expect  it — during  the  millennium  1  I  do  not  expect  the 
corn-field  of  the  Church  to  be  "  cleansed  or  purified" 
before  Christ  comes,  in  the  only  sense  in  which  the  parable 
referred  to  by  Mr.  Birks  (of  the  wheat  and  tares)  announces 
a  purification,  namely,  that  all  the  tares,  or  children  of  the 
wicked  one,  will  be  purified  out  of  "  the  world,  which  is 
the  field."  Does  Mr.  Birks  himself  believe  that  not  one 
child  of  the  wicked  one,  one  unregenerate  professing  Chris- 
tian, will  be  found  on  the  earth  during  the  millennium  ?  If 
not,  his  argument  is  inept. 

All  such  arguments  proceed,  aa  I  have  shown,  upon 
exaggerated  views  of  the  difference  between  the  present  and 
the  millennial  era.  Pre-millennialists  themselves  are 
forced  to  admit  that  there  will  be  tares  among  the  wheat — • 
bad  as  well  as  good — a  mixture — on  the  earth  during  the 
millennium.  They  may  "  feign  submission,"  but  of  the  root 
of  the  matter,  many,  according  to  their  own  admission,  will 
be  destitute.  And  what  is  this  but  to  allow  that  the  only 
difference  between  that  time  and  this  will  be  one  of  degree. 
Now,  the  New  Testament  brings  out  into  bold  relief,  not 


♦  Four  Proph.  Emp.,  ut  aupra,  p.  333.        c 

2  3  2  te  '•"»i'' 


406    MILLENNIUM  ABSORBED  IN  KINGDOM      F  GRACE. 

differences  of  degree  but  of  kind.  The  grand  distinctions 
held  forth  and  dwelt  on  in  the  New  Testament  are  two — the. 
distinction  between  what  we  familiarly  call  nature  and 
GRACE,  on  the  one  hand,  and  between  grace  and  glory  on 
the  other.  Corresponding  with  these  subjective  distinctions 
in  the  successive  conditions  of  the  Church,  is  the  sublime 
objective  distinction  between  the  first  and  the  second 
comings  of  the  Church's  Lord — the  first  in  humiliation, 
to  redeem  her  unto  God  by  his  blood,  and  translate  her  out 
of  nature  into  grace ;  the  second,  in  majesty,  to  "  perfect 
that  which  concerneth  her,"  and  exalt  her  from  grace  unto 
glory.  What  has  the  millennium  to  do  with  such  magnifi- 
cent distinctions  as  these  1  Nothing.  It  is  just  the  state  of 
grace  developed  more  widely  and  fully  than  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  gospel  As  such,  it  would 'never  fail  to  be 
mentioned  at  all,  save  where  it  was  the  express  object 
of  the  inspiring  Spirit  to  hold  forth  frophctically  the  for- 
tunes of  the  Church  upon  earth,  and  show  it  passing  into 
the  perfect  and  eternal  state.  In  the  Apocalypse.,  for  exam- 
ple, we  have  a  right,  so  to  speak,  to  look  for  the  millennium, 
if  there  is  to  be  one  at  all.  And  there,  accordingly,  we  do 
find  it,  but  nowhere  else. 

I  have  had  occasion  to  observe,  too,  that  the  commence- 
ment and  the  close  of  this  latter  day  will,  in  all  likelihood, 
follow  the  law  of  all  the  other  great  periods  in  the  history 
of  the  Church,  being  gradual  and  uncertain  ;  so  cutting  off 
every  plea  for. slothful  security,  and  keeping  the  Church  in 
its  fitting  attitude  of  expectancy.  "  Ethiopia  (or  Cush)  shall 
won  stretch  out,"  or  "  hasten  her  hands  unto  God''  y^^^t^ 
Ps.  Ixviii.  31),  said  the  Psalmist  between  two  and  three 
thousand  years  ago.  But  is  it  done  yet  ?  "  Behold,  I  come 
quickly^^  said  the  Redeemer  himself,  nearly  two  millen- 
niums since  ;  but  still  "  the  heavens  retain  him,"  for  "  the 
times  of  restitution  of  all  things  spoken  of  by  the  prophets" 


"  SOONS"  AND     "  QUICKLIES" CONCLUSION.         487 

have  not  arrived.  These  '•  sooiis'^  and  '•  quicklies'^  of 
Scripture  are  not.  it  seems,  to  be  measured  by  our  impatient 
arithmetic.  Events  should  have  taught  us  this,  but  they 
have  not ;  and  those  who  are  trying  to  learn  the  lesson,  be- 
cause they  tremble  at  the  word  of  the  Lord,  are  charged 
with  lulling  the  Church  and  the  world  to  sleep — as  if  their 
motto  were,  "  The  Lord  delayeth  his  coming  "  But  "  let 
God  be  true  and  every  man  a  liar."  "  The  grass  withereth, 
the  flower  fadeth ;  but  the  word  of  our  God  shall  stand  for 


CONCLUSION. 

Here  I  close  this  investigation.  I  have  shown,  I  think, 
under  a  number  of  heads,  that  the  pre-millennial  scheme  is 
at  variance  with  the  word  of  God — that  it  proceeds  upon 
crude  and  arbitrary  principles  of  interpretation,  while  it 
shrinks  from  carrying  out  even  these  to  their  legitimate  re- 
sults— that  as  a  system  it  wants  coherence,  and  is  palpably 
defective,  making  no  provision  for  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant events  which  are  to  occur  in  the  history  of  our  race — 
and  that  its  bearing  on  some  of  the  most  precious  doctrines 
of  God's  word  are  painful  and  perilous. 

These  are  strong  things  to  say.  Could  I  have  taken  the 
view  of  this  system  which  many  do  who  never  examined  it 
— that  it  is  a  harmless  one,  which  it  matters  little  whether 
we  embrace  or  reject — I  have  too  much  dislike  to  oppose 
brethren  in  the  common  salvation,  to  have  sent  forth  such 
a  volume  as  this.  It  is  because  I  saw  in  it  elements  which 
at  once  fascinate  the  carnal  and  attract  the  spiritual^  that  I 
thought  it  of  consequence  to  sift  it.  And  none  of  the  least 
of  my  motives,  in  undertaking  this  inquiry,  was  the  desire  to 


488  CONCLUSION. 

rescue  "  the  blessed  hope"  of  the  Saviour's  appearing  from 
the  erroneous  and  repulsive  circumstances  with  which  this 
doctrine  invests  it,  and  which  have  had  the  effect  of  fright- 
ening away  the  Church  from  an  expectation  which  nothing 
else  can  compensate  the  loss  of  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly, 
and  my  reward  is  with  me,"  is  a  sound  dear  to  all  that 
love  his  name  They  "  love  his  appearing,"  because  they 
love  Himself  To  put  any  thing  in  the  place  of  it  is  not 
good.  Nor  will  it  succeed.  For  those  who  preach  him 
bringing  his  reward  with  him,  will  prevail,  as  indeed  they 
ought. 

Nor  is  it  in  regard  to  the  personal  appearing  of  the 
Saviour  only  that  pre-millennialists  will  and  ought  to  pre- 
vail against  all  who  keep  it  out  of  sight.  There  is  a  range 
of  truth  connected  with  it,  which  necessarily  sinks  out  of 
its  scriptural  position  and  influence,  whenever  the  coming 
of  Christ  is  put  out  of  its  due  place.  I  refer  to  the  resur- 
rection as  a  co-ordinate  object  of  the  Church's  hope,  and 
to  all  the  truths  which  circle  around  it,  in  which  there  is  a 
power  to  stir  and  to  elevate,  which  nothing  else,  substituted 
for  it,  can  ever  possess.  The  resurrection-life  of  the  Head, 
as  now  animating  all  his  members,  and  at  length  quicken- 
ing them  from  the  tomb,  to  be  for  ever  with  Him — these, 
and  such  like,  are  truths,  in  the  presentation  of  which  pre- 
millennialists  are  cast  in  the  mould  of  Scripture,  from  which 
it  is  as  vain  as  it  were  undesirable  to  dislodge  them.  Pity 
only  that  they  mar  their  own  work.  Many  of  them  are  dear 
to  me  in  the  Lord,  and  all  the  more  for  their  warm  affection 
to  the  appearing  of  his  Person,  and  the  truths  therewith 
connected.  And  oh !  will  it  not  be  gladsome  when  those 
who  '■  have  fallen  out  by  the  way"  about  his  coming,  shall 
be  found  together  "walking  with  Him  in  white,"  their 
questions  ended  and  their  jarrings  drowned  in  their  common 
hallelujahs  "  unto  Him  that  loved  them  ?" 


CONCLUSION.  489 

And  it  will  soon  be.  "  A  little  while  and  ye  shall  not 
see  me  ;  and  again,  a  little  while  and  ye  shall  see  me." 
"  Though  he  tarry,  wait  for  Him."  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus, 
come  quickly."  Meanwhile,  "  until  the  day  break,  and  the 
shadows  flee  away,  I  will  get  me  to  the  mountain  of  myrrh, 
and  to  the  hill  of  frankincense.''     (Cant.  iv.  6.) 


"  Se(J  forte  sic  in  Icngam  nimis  protenditur  spes  magna  de  illustri  adventu 
Dcmim  ad  plenissimam  suorum  iiTo\vTp<iitttv  et  universale  judicium  Ipsi  a 
Patre  commissum  1  Fateor  certe  longius  differri  quam  sibi  vulgus  hominum 
in  Ecclesia  Christiana  futurum  esse  persuadet.  Et  ipse  quoque  ego  liac  de  re 
non  nisi  trepide  scribo ;  etiamsi  in  clara  veritatis  luce  minus  esse  videatur  quod 
metuam.  Amo  apparitionem  Domini,  nee  peto  moram  finis,  sperans  m.e  miseri- 
cord iam  inventurum  in  die  illo:  Fidei  tamen  et  prudentije  esse  existimo,  spa- 
tium  dare  Deo  opus  suum  in  hie  terris  consummanrii  antequam  claudat  sae- 
cula;  et  nobis  imperiose  non  vindicare  arbitrium  canstituendorum  iemporum 
Mundi  et  Ecclesicb  ;  juod  solius  Dei  esse  nos  docuit  Dominus.  Opus  enim  quod 
Deus  in  hie  terris  exhibere  decrevit,  et  eujus  exhibendi  caussa  Saieula  condidit, 
est  magnum,  mirabile,  paradoxum  (Hab.  i.  5) ;  quod  nostri  officii  est  non  ex 
animi  nostri  parvitate,  sed  Divina  majestate,  magnitudine  et  consiliorum  ejua 
vastitate  ac  profunditate  metiri.  Parvitatis  enim  animi  nostri  argumentum 
est,  tempera  ilia  propria,  quae  Deus  exequendis  consiliis  suis  destinavit,  intra 
angustos  constringere  terminos;  impatientisB  autem  et  incredulitatis,  nostria 
eadem  cogitationibus  anticipare,  et  dicere  cum  Judaeis  carnalibus:  Acceleret^ 
propere  producat  opus  suum  ut  videamus  (Jes.  v.  19).  Fidei  contra  et  auxftpo- 
avvris  est,  non  festinare  (Jes.  xxviii.  16).  Novit  enim  Deum,  licet  cunctari  vide- 
atur, non  cunctari  vere  (Hab.  ii.  3,  4) ;  sed  suo  tempore  omnia  agere  pulchre. 
An  putamus  vere,  Deum  Regnum  Filii  sui.  per  quatuor  nimirum  millia  pro- 
missum,  tandem  in  hoc  Orbe  voluisse  exhibere  et  per  continuam  luctam  ad 
perfectionem  aliquam  perducere,  ut  illud  Mundo  ostensum  mox  rursus  dis« 
pareati  Sed  ipse  ego  nolo  tempori  hujus  Mundi  plus  gpati"  dare,  quam  Pro- 
phetiae  suadeut,  extra  quas  nihil  aapio." — Vitrinoa.,  Anmk.  upoe.  (ad  cap.  xx. 
1-lS,  sect  xvii.) 


'/YSyO  tr^.^     -^  ^''^  i'\^^^*  >.  t-t^-/ 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Advent,  personal,  expected  on  both 
sides,  9,  10 ;  commendable  pro- 
minence given  to  it  by  pre-mil- 
lennialists,  13,  488 ;  place  of  it  in 
the  Bible  and  the  system  of  truth, 
14-19,  23-25  ;  events  to  precede 
it,  34-38  ;  uncertainty  of  time  of 
it,  27-29,  446-449. 

Advent,  figurative,  to  judge  pub- 
lic bodies,  civil  and  ecclesiastical, 
456-468,  464-472 ;  to  judge  Anti- 
christ in  particular,  345-350,  352, 
358,  453-462,  464,  465,  472-476; 
Faber's  canon  for  determining 
whether  any  predicted  advent  be 
figurative  or  literal,  471,  (and  see 
470.) 

Austria  revolution  in,  355. 

Baptism,  with  all  the  training  that 
follows  on  it,  terminates  at  second 
advent,  106,  107. 

Ceremonies,  Jewish,  revival  of— See 
Peculiarities. 

Conflagration,  final,  as  represent- 
ed by  pre-millennialists,  294-298, 
303-305  ;  all-involving,  all-reduc- 
ing, 299-303. 

David,  house,  key,  throne  of,  139, 

140,  143,  149. 
Death,  its  relation  to  second  advent, 

20-25;  the  last  enemy,  158,  159; 

second  death,  231,  232,  241-243 ; 

power    of,    wrested  from    Satan 

only  in  case  of  believers,  400. 
Deception  of  the  nations,  the  final, 

443,  444. 

Events,  alleged  distinction  between, 

and  periods,  45-47. 
Excitement  about  Christ's  coming: 

42,  43,  48,  49. 


JF'aith,  mixture  of,  with  sight,  on 

pre-millennial    theory,    380-384 ; 

remarks  on  this,  384-388. 
Fleshly    state,    alleged    everlasting 

continuance  of,  168-172 ;  remarks 

on  this,  172-176. 

Gate,  strait,  389-397. 

Gog  and  Magog,  66-71,  443-448. 

Grace,  mixture  of,  with  glory,  on 
pre-millennial  theory,  380-384 ; 
remarks  on  this,  384-388 ;  as  con- 
trasted with  glory,  486 ;  as  con- 
trasted witl\  nature,  486. 

Heavens  and  earth  that  are  now, 
their  final  destiny,  10-12,  302, 
303;   passing  away  of,   299-303. 

Heavens  and  earth,  the  new,  as  re- 
presented by  pre-millennialists, 
306,  307 ;  characterized  by  un- 
mixed and  perfect  righteousness, 
306-309. 

Hope,  the  patience  of,  51,  52. 

Huss,  his  dream,  252. 

Intercession  of  Christ  terminates, 
for  saving  purposes,  at  second 
advent,  116-118. 

Jews,  inbringing  of,  433-437;  terri- 
torial restoration  of,  378. 

Judaizing  character  of  pre-millen- 
nialism,  6,  42,  136,  137,  359,  360, 
365,  366. 

Judgment,  the  last,  24,  25,  103-105, 
206,  207,  211-216,  268-291,  449; 
views  of,  taken  by  pre-millenni- 
alists, 260-266 ;  remarks  on  these. 
266-268 ;  righteous  and  wicked 
judged  together,  269-287;  diffi- 
culties of  pre-millennial  theory  of, 
288-290. 

Judgments^    temporal,     connected 


492 


INDEX. 


with  introduction  of  millennium, 
321  322 ;  on  public  bodies,  civil 
and  ecclesiastical,  and  on  Anti- 
christ in  particular — see  Advent, 
figurative ;  confounding  of  with 
last  judgment,  261,  285,  289,  305, 
with  note  t,  356-358. 

Kingdom  of  Christ,  pre-millennial 
theory  of,  125-130;  explanation 
of  terras  regarding,  130-134;  apos- 
tolic views  of,  135-166 ;  same 
ground  taken  bypre-millennialists 
and  unbelieving  Jews  regarding, 
136,  137;— of  grace,  338-342,  343, 
392-397;  delivering  up  of,  154- 
158;  what  it  is,  160-162;  whatit 
is  not,  162-166. 

Lamh^  in  midst  of  throne,  141. 

Leaven ^  parable  of,  35,  332. 

Life,    book    of,    207-209,  213-216, 

239,  240. 
Life,  Prince  of,  146. 
Literalism,  363-370,  372,  373. 
Lord  and  Christ,  138,  139. 
Lord^s  Supper,  terminates  at  second 

advent,  103,  109. 

Millennium,  whether  a  definite  thou- 
sand years,  27,  28;  how  brought 
about,  313-324;  bearing  of  the 
views  of  pre-millennialistson  this 
point,  upon  the  sufficiency  of  the 
Church's  present  resources  and 
on  missionary  effort,  313-324 ;  not 
characterized  by  unmixed  right- 
eousness, but  belonging  to  the 
mixed  state  of  the  Church,  157, 
325-334 ;  just  the  full  develop- 
ment of  kingdom  of  grace  in  its 
earthly  state,  335-356 ;  leading 
features  of,  424-440;  close  o^ 
440-442 ;  uncertainty  of  time  of 
beginning  and  end  of,  28,  29,  440- 
442  ;  why  not  in  New  Testament, 
save  in  Apocalypse,  333,  334, 
486. 

Miracles,  expectation  of,  in  connec- 
tion with  introduction  of  millen- 
nium, 322-324. 

Mustard  seed,  parable  of,  35,  338. 

Mystical  body  of  Christ,  complete- 
ness of,  at  second  advent,  53-61 ; 
denial  of,  by  most  modern  pre- 
millennialists,  73,  82-97 ;  virtual 


admission  of,  74-80 ;  presentatioa 
of,  to  Christ  at  his  coming,  57. 

Paganism,  fall  of,  3,  246-8,  404- 
408. 

Papacy,  the,  246,  248,  256,  257,  29&- 
299,  352-356,  408-410. 

Pavilion- c\ou6,  386. 

Peace,  characteristic  of  latter  day, 
428-430. 

Peculiarities^  Jewish,  revival  o^ 
expected  by  pre-millennialists, 
359-363;  remarks  on  this,  363- 
374. 

Pre-millennial  controversy,  in  what 
circumstances  it  agitates  the 
Church,  1 ;  theory  stated,  4 ;  di- 
versities, 5,  6 ;  prejudices  in  fa- 
vour of,  and  against,  7-9  ;  irrele- 
vancies,  9-12;  elements  in  it 
which  at  once  fascinate  the  car- 
nal and  attract  the  spiritual,  487. 

Priest  upon  his  throne,  141. 

Prince  of  life,  146. 

Prince  and  Saviour,  151. 

Prosperity,  temporal,  to  charac- 
terise the  latter  day,  439.  440. 


QuicHies ' 
486,  487. 


of  Scripture,  50-52; 


Regeneration,  the,  478-480. 

Reign  on  the  earth,  476,  477. 

Remonstrants,  Dutch,  193. 

Restitution  of  all  things,  37,  38,  147, 
148. 

Resurrection,  the,  views  of,  by  pre- 
millennialists,  167-176  ;  alleged 
co-existence  of,  with  the  mortal 
state,  179-181 ;  remarks  on  this, 
181--189;  of  wicked  at  Christ's 
coming,  190;  alleged  evidence 
for  a  prior  resurrection  of  saints 
examined,  191-199 ;  proof  to  the 
contrary,  199-217. 

Resurrection,  the  millennial,  pre- 
sumptions against  its  being  lite- 
ral, 219-228;  untenable  argu- 
ments for  the  figurative  sense, 
229  ;  internal  evidence  for  its  be- 
ing a  figurative  resurrection,  231- 
259. 

Righteousness,  unmixed,  character- 
istic not  of  millennium,  306, 
325-334 ;  but  of  the  new  heavens 
and  new  earth,  306. 


INDEX. 


493 


Rig-hfeousness,  mixed,  characteristic 
of  millennium,  329-334,  425-439, 

485,  486. 

Sabbatism,  remaining  for  people  of 

God,  483.  484. 
Satftn,  hindins  of,  not  a  total  cessn- 

tion   of   his    influence,    399-403. 

What  it  is,  403-411.    Loosing  of, 

Inst  struggle,  capture  and  doom, 

443-448. 
Scottish   Church,   fathers   of,   their 

views  of  second  advent,  29,  30. 
Scriptu7-es,  object  of,  exhausted  by 

second  advent,  101-105.     Admis- 
sion of  this,  109-114. 
Seitson,  the  little,  204,  233-235,  238, 

239,  289,  290,  296,  443-448. 
Sight,   as   contrasted  with  faith — 

See  raith. 


Sleep,  applied  to  death  of  believers, 
never  to  death  of  Christ,  194. 
Soons  "  of  Scripture — see  Quick' 
lies. 

Spirit,  work  of,  terminates,  for  sav- 
ing purposes,  at  second  advent, 
119-121.  Aamission  of  this,  122, 
123.  Effusion  of,  in  connexion 
with  introduction  of  millennium, 
321-324. 

Sto7}e  becoming  a  mountain,  336, 
337. 

Tares,  parable  of,  205,  325-334,  485. 
Temple,  Ezekiel's,  360-379. 
Trump,  last,  204,  205. 

Way,  narrow,  387-397. 
Widow,  importunate.  41,  42. 
World,    evangelization    of,    betori 
Christ's  coming,  34,  35,  317-321. 


«T 


INDEX  OF   TEXTS, 

ILl  USTRATED,   QUOTED,   OR    REFERRED  TO. 


Genesis  xix.  23,  24,  p.  447. 

xli.  H9,  p.  445. 
Exodus  XV.  y,  p.  447. 

xvi.  30.  p.  484. 

XX.  11,  p.  165. 

xxxii.  32,  p.  214. 
Numbers  xiv.  9,  p.  347. 
Deuteronouiy  xxxii.  xxxiii.  p.  62. 
Judges  V.  28,  p.  7. 

vii.  12,  p.  445. 
2  Samuel  xvii.  11,  p.  445. 
Job  i.  19,  p.  444.   • 
Psalms  ii.  7,  426 ;  7-9,  p.  358 ;  8,  p. 
348. 

iv.  5,  p  376. 

xii.  7,  p.  300. 

xxii.  27-29,  p.  427,  433. 

xxvii.  6,  p.  376. 

xli.  p.  189. 

xlv.  12,  p.  439;  16,  p.  438. 

li.  17.  19,  p.  361,  376. 

liv.  6,  p.  376. 

Ivi.  13,  p.  376. 

Ixvi.  13-15,  p.  361. 

Ixvii.  6,  p.  440. 

Ixviii.  31,  p.  486. 

Jxix.  29,  p.  214. 

Ixxii.   8,    11,   p.   426,   427; 
11-17,  p.  438. 

Ixxvi.  1,  p.  370. 

Ixxxix.  28-37,  p.  166. 

cii.  26.  p.  303. 

cvii.  22,  p.  376. 

ex.  1,  p.  152,  153,  155;  2, 
p.  349. 

cxvi.  17,  p.  376. 
Canticles  iv.  6,  p.  489. 

viii.  14,  p.  7.  51. 
Isaiah  i.  25,  p.  300  ;  26,  p.  473. 

ii.  2,  7,  p.  362-367;  3,  p.  214, 
427 ;  4,  p.  428,  457 ;  3, 
4,  p.  392;  11,  17,  p.  349. 


Isaiah  iv.  3,  &c..  p.  214. 
viii.  18,  p.  160,  161. 
ix.  6,  7,  p.  144. 
xi.  2,  p.  142  ;  4,  p.  457  ;  6-9 

428,  429;  9,  p.  325,  326 

392,  425 ;  12,  p.  444. 
xiii.  6,  9,  13,  19,  p.  456,  457. 
xix.  1,  p.457;  21,  p.  376,378. 
xxii.  22,  p.  143. 
xxiv.  21,  22,  p.  398,  399;  25, 

p.  383. 
XXV.  6,  p.  180-182 ;  186-188 ; 

7,  p.  426. 
xxvi.  13,  14,  p.  238,  349,  350; 

19,  p.  251. 
XXX.  23,  24,  p.  440;  27,  28, 

30,  33,  p.  457. 
xxxii.  13,  15,  p.  437 ;  15-18, 

p.  392. 
xxxiv.  6,  p.  376,  378. 
xxxvii.  3,  17.  p.  447. 
xlvi.  10,  p.  376. 
xlix.  23,  p.  439. 
li.  15,  16,  p.  307. 
liii.  11,  p.  160,  165;    12,  p 

159. 
Ivi.  7,  p.  376,  378. 
Ivii.  2,  p.  23. 
Ix.  p.  390. 
Ix.  7,  p.  377,  378;  12,  p.  438; 

16,  p.  439;  21,  p.   169, 

325  ;  22,  p.  433. 
Ixv.  17,  18,  p.  179,  184,  185, 

296,  298 ;  20,  p.  157. 
Ixvi.  8,  p.  433;   22,  p.  184^ 

296  ;  23,  p.  477. 
Jeremiah  xvii.  26,  p.  376. 
xix.  10,  p.  371. 
xxxi.   12,   p.   440;   31-31 

p.  325,  434. 
xxxiii.  11,  p.  376;  17,  18 
p.  361. 


INDEX    TO    TEXTS. 


495 


Ezekiel  i.  18,  p.  161. 

xiii.  2-5,   p.   383;  9-11,  p. 

214,  378. 
xxxiv.  26,  27,  29,  30,  38,  p. 

440. 
xxxvii.  12-14,  p.  251. 
xxxviii.,  xxxix.,  p.  445. 

17-19,  p.  378. 
xl.  xlvi.,  p.  372. 
xliii.  2-5,  p.  383;  9-11,  378; 

20,  21,  p.  375,  444 ;  26, 
p.  361. 

xliv.  2,  p.  353 ;   9,  p.   366, 

375. 
xlv.  xlvi.,  p.  361. 
xlv.  17,  p.   376;  19,  p.  444; 

21,  p.  375. 
xlvi.  20,  p.  375. 
xlvii.  p.  293. 

Daniel  ii.   34,  35,  44,   p.  335-342, 
351,  352,  354. 
vi.,  p.  421. 

vii.,  p.  297,  342-358;  11,  p. 
298 ;  14,  22,  27,  p.  228, 
437-439. 
X.  6-9,  p.  474. 
xii.  1,  p.  214  ;  2,  p.  199,  201 ; 
3,   205,  6  ;  7,  p.  300 ;  8, 
p.  2. 
Hosea  vi.  2,  p.  251. 

xiii.  14,  p.  180. 
xiv.  2,  p.  378. 
Joel  ii.  28-32,  p.  458,  466,  467. 

iii.  1-15,  p.  268 ;  17,  p.  366. 
Amos  ix.  13,  p.  440. 
Micah  i.  3-5,  p.  458. 
iv.  3,  p.  428. 
Zephaniah  i.  7,  8,  p.  376. 
Zechariah  vi.  12,  13,  p.  141,  152. 
viii.  12,  p.  440. 
ix.  9,  10,  p.  336,  427. 
xii.  9,  10,  p.  300,  435. 
xiii.  1,  p.  435. 
xiv.  5,  p.  62;  9,  p.  349, 
438,  477;  10,   p.  371; 
17-19,  p.  156,  293;  21, 
p.  366. 
Malachi  1.  11,  p.  326,  367,  368,  376. 
iii.  1,  2,  p.  467. 
iv.  5,  6,  p.  467,  463. 
Matthew  vi.  33,  p.  439. 

vii.  14,  p.  113,  390;  21-23, 

p.  272,  273. 
viii.  11,  p.  87. 
X.  23,  p.  458,  469 ;  32,  33, 
p.  269;  34,  p.  390-394. 


Matthew  xi.  6,  p.  216 :  13,  14,  p. 
468. 
xii.  29,  p.  419. 
xiii.  3-33,  36-50,  p.  34,  35, 
306,  332  333,  338,  339 ; 
30,     47,     p.    287,    306, 
325-334;  31,  32,  p.  477; 
43,  p.  205,  206. 
xiv.  9,  p.  347. 
xvi.  24-27,  p.  14,  271 ;  27, 

28,  p.  273,  469. 
xvii.  10-13,  p.  468. 
xix.  28,  p.  478. 
xxi.  43. 
xxiii.   32,  34-36,  p.  464 ; 

39,  p.  433. 
xxiv.  5,  11,  p.  31,  414;  6, 
p.   49,  29-31,    p.   462; 
33  p.  44 ,  34,  p.  463. 
XXV.  p   195;  1-13.  p.  276; 
5,  p.  40;  10,  p.  105,272; 
14-30,  p.  272,   273 ;  19, 
p.  40;  31,  p.  476;  31-46, 
p.     263  266,    273-275  ; 
46,  p.  227. 
xxvi.  41,  p.  390. 
xxviii.  3,  4,  p.  474;  18-20, 
p.  34,  106,  107,  162,  273, 
317,  318,  474,  477. 
Mark  iv.  17,  28,  p.  482. 

viii.   25,  p.  481,  482;  38,  p 

269. 
ix.  1,  p.  469 ;  6,  p.  474. 
xvi.  15,  p.  273. 
Luke  i.  17,  p.  468. 
V.  33-39,  p.  18. 
viii.  12,  p.  482. 
ix.  26,  p.  387 ;  27.  p.  469 ;  32- 

34,  474. 
X.  20,  p.  214. 
xi.  21,  22,  p.  159,  419. 
xii.  8,  35-37,  p.  15 ;  39,  40,  p. 
103 ;  46,  p.  276 ;  49,  p.  390. 
xiii.  24,  p.  197;  25,  p.  276. 
xiv.  14. 

xvii.  26-30,  p.  103,  105,  446. 
xviii.  1-8,  p.  41,  42,  447. 
xix.   11-27,  p.  39-41;  13,  p. 

17.  101. 
XX.  35-37,  p.  4.  8. 
xxi.  24-27,  p.  433,  462. 
xxii.  30,  p.  478. 
John  iii.  4,  p.  259;  29,  p.  89,  90; 
36,  p.  192. 
iv.  21-23,  p    369,  370;  54,  p. 
227. 


496 


INDEX    TO    TEXTS. 


John  V.  17,  p.  165;  28,  29,  p.  201- 
203,  227,  276,  277;  25-29, 
p.  243. 
vi.   39.  44,  54,  56,  p.  91,  92, 

179,' 193. 
vii.  38,  39,  p.  120,  131. 
X.  27,  28,  p.  243. 
xii.  47,  p.  105. 
xiii.  5,  p.  482. 

xiv.  1-3,  p.  21 ;  16,  17,  26,  p. 
120;  19,  p.  193;28,  p.  461. 
XV.  26,  p.  120. 

xvi.  7,  14.  p.  120;  19-22,  p.  19. 
xvii.  9,  24,  p.   179  ;  22,  24,  p. 

92,  161. 
xix.  27,  p.  482. 
XX.  27,  p.  482. 
Actsi.  6,  7,  p.  433;  10,  11,  p.  21. 
ii.  16,  19,  20,  p.  458 ;    29-36, 
p.     138-141;     33,   p.    120; 
34-36,  p.  152,  153. 
iii.  13-15,  p.  146;  19-21,  p.  37, 

38,  147-149,  433. 
iv.  26-28,  p.  150,  151. 
V.  29-31,  p.  151. 
ix.  3-7,  p.  475  ;  31,  p.  391. 
X.  41,  p.  198  ;  42,  p.  287. 
xiii.  34,  p.  198. 
xvii.  31,  p.  104,  198,  277,  278 ; 

32,  p.  198. 
xxii.  9-11,  p.  475. 
xxiv.  15,  p.  198. 
xxvi.  23,  p.  193. 
Romans  i.  4,  p.  198. 

ii.  2-16,  p.  104,  278,  279 ;  7, 

p.  227. 
viii.  1,  p.  93,  94;  9,  It,  p. 
92,243;  17,  p.  25;  19-23, 
p.  11,  240,  303;  29,  30, 
p.  92,  165;  44,  p.  11. 
xi.,  p.  237  ;  15,  p.  251. 
xii.  1,  p.  377. 
xiv.  10-12,  p.  234. 
XV.  9,  p.  159 ;  16,  p.  377. 
xvi.  20,  p.  399-402. 
I  Cor.  i.  7,  8,  p.  16. 

iii.  12-15,  p.  14,  281,  282. 
iv.  5,  p.  279. 
vii.  31,  p.  303. 
X.  16,  21,  p.  377. 
xi.  26,  p.  17.  108,  109. 
iXii.  28,  p.  482. 
XV.  p.  192;  5,7,  p.  482;  12, 
13,   21,   42,  p.   198;  20-23, 
p.   177,    178,    194;    23.    p. 
54-57;  23,24,  p.  177,  178, 


227,   481,   483;    24-26,    p. 
153-166;    28,    p.  461;  47 
p.    165 ;     51,    52,    p.  204 
54,  55,  p.  180. 
2  Cor.  iii.  14-18,  p.  433. 

V.  9-11,  p.  279;  17,  p.  185 
Vi.  2,  p.  202  ;  17,  p.  113. 
vii.  15,  16,  p.  433. 
X.  4,  p.  353 ;  3,  4,  p.  356. 
Galatians  iv.,  p.  373. 

V.  2-4,  p.  375. 
Ephesians  i.  10,  p.  165. 

ii.  14,  15,  19,  p.  363,  369, 
V.  5,  p.  132,  237  ;  25-27, 
p.  57,  58,  77,  160,  163, 
165. 
Philippians  i.  6,  9,  10,  p.  16,  17. 
ii.  17,  p.  377. 
iii.  11,  p.  195,  196;  20, 
21,  p.  11,  16,102,  195, 
196,  227. 
iv.  3,  p.  214 ;  18,  p.  377. 
Coloisians  i.  18,  p.  11,  165  ;  20,  p. 
165  ;  22,  p.  60,  66 ;  28, 
p.  282,  283. 
ii.  p.  374  ;  9,  p.  164 ;  15, 

p.  158. 
iii.  4,  5,  p.  15. 

1  Thess.  i.  3,  p.  51. 

ii.  12,  p.  287;  19,  20,  p. 
283,  284. 

iii.  13,  p.  60. 

iv.  p.  192 ;  14,  p.  193,  194 ; 
15,  p.  16,  17;  16,  p.  17, 
123,  204  ;  17,  p.  233. 

V.  2,  3,  p.  446,  447 ;  23,  p. 

2  Thess.  i.  6-9,  p.  53,  59,  279-281, 

285;    7-10,  p.  103,  160, 
304 ;  10,  p.  227. 
ii.  1,  p.  64 ;  1,  p.  2,  3,  42- 

52;  1-8,  p.  453-462;  8,  p. 

352,  355. 

1  Timothy  ii.  13,  p.  482. 

iii.  10.  p.  482. 
iv.  1-3,  p.  36. 
V.  24,  25,  p.  284. 

2  Timothy  i.  10,  p.  158. 

ii.  12,  p.  93. 
iii.  1-3,  p.  36. 
iv.  1-3,  p.  36 ;  1,  p.  165i 
286,  287 ;  6,  p.  377  ;  8l 
p.  16,  439. 
Titus  ii.  11-14,  p.  23-25. 

iii.  5,  6,  p.  120. 
Hebrews  i.  3,  p.  165 ;  10,  12,  p.  30aL 


INDEX    ro    TEXTS. 


497 


Hebrenrsii.  9,  p.  194;    13.  p.  161; 

14,  15,  p.  158,  400-402. 

iv.  3,  p.  484;    9,  p.  483, 

484. 
vii.  25,  p.  118,  119,  123. 
viii.,  p.  437 ;  12,  p.  375. 
ix.  12,  24-28,  p.  116,  117; 
27,  28,   p.  24,  25,  121, 
227. 
X.  5,  9,  p.  375 ;  8.  p.  378 ; 
12,  23,  p.  153,  154 ;  37, 
p.  31. 
xi.  40,  p.  87. 

xii.  9,  p.  482;  22,  p.  370; 
23,   p.   64,   274;  26,  p. 
298. 
xiii.  10,  p.  376,  377;  10-13, 
p.  375,  377  ;  15,  p.  377  ; 
16,  p.  377. 
James  i.  15,  p.  170,  174,  482. 
V.  7,  p.  101. 

1  Peter  i.  4,  ,5,  13,  p.  227;  11,  p. 

424;  13.  p.  15,  102. 
ii.  5,  9,  p.  376. 
iv.  6,  p.  287 ;  4,  12,  13,  p.  U. 

2  Peter  i.  11,  p.  287;  19,  p.  2,  18. 

101,  104. 
ii.  4,  p.  416. 

iii.  3,  4,   p.  37,  447;  7,  p. 

104 ;  7.   10,  12,  p.  14,  62, 

284,  485;   7-13.   p.  292- 

295,  303-305,  309;  8,  p. 

51;    10,   p.   475;    13,   p. 

180,  184. 

IJohnii.  12,  p.  202;  15,  p.  114;  16, 

p.  394,  395  ;  28,  p.  15,  284  ; 

28,  29,  p.  227. 

iii.  2.   p.    16,   227;  8-10,  p. 

399-402. 
iv.  17,  p.  284. 
V.  12,  p.  192. 
;ude  14,  15,  p.  14 ;  24,  p.  59. 
Revelation  i.  5,  6,  p.  163 ;  7,  p.  14 ; 
17,  p.  475  ;  18,  p.  145, 
159.  419. 
ii.  2-4,  p.  441;  3,  p.  403, 

404  ;  7,  p.  227. 
iii.  1,  p.  120 ;  3,  p.  458 ; 
5,  p.   214,   284;    7,  8, 
12,  p.  143,  144. 
V.  6,  p.  120,  142;   10,  p. 
211,  228,  230,  437-439, 
476,  477  ;  12,  p.  162. 
vi.  9-11,  p.  211,  228,  246- 


248,  255-258 ;  12-17,  p 

465,  466. 
vii.   1,   p.  444 ;    3,  4.  p. 

211;  9,  13,  14,  p.  271; 

15,  p.  211. 
ix.,  p.  417,  418. 
X.  1,  2,  p.  458 ;  2,  7,  p. 

211;  7,  p.  336. 
xi.  2,  3,  p.  211,  343;  11, 

p.  251 ;  15-18,  p.  165, 

211,  212,  237,  345,  351, 

396,  477. 
xii.,  p.  421;  6,   p.  211, 

343;  7-12,  p.  404-408, 

417 ;  7,  p.  62.  63,  343 ; 

9,  p.  414,  422 ;   14,  p. 

211,  343. 
xiii.  1,  p.  403;  5,  p.  11, 

343;    8,    p.    209,   214, 

215.    239;    11,    15,   p. 

249;  16.  p.  212. 
xiv.  1,  p.  211;  4,  p.  409; 

11,  p.  211. 
XV.  2,  p.  211 

xvii.  1,  p.  409;  8,  p.  215, 
239  ;  14,  p.  62. 

xviii.,  p.  297 ;  2,  6,  20,  p. 
257;  7,  p.  355;  9.  p. 
298;  20,  p.  410. 

xix.  2,  3,  6.  20.  p.  211; 
5,  p.  212;  6-9,  p.  63; 
11-15,  p.  236,  286,  304, 
353,354,  409,  411,472- 
476. 

XX.,  p.  191 ;  1-3,  7,  p. 
393-423;  1,  p.  419;  2, 
3,  p.  204,  211,  478;  4, 
p.  2,  211;  5,  p.  208; 
4-6,  p.  218-259,  437, 
439;  7-9,  p.  68,  71, 
156,  157,  239,  443;  11- 
15,  p.  206-217,  227,  239, 
240,  268,  284-286,  303, 
309. 

xxi.  1,  2,  p.  184.  293, 
302,  308,  309  ;  2,  9.  p. 
63;  3,  4,  p.  180,  211; 
7,  8,  p.  2)4.  270;  24, 
p.  98,  99  ;  27,  p.  215. 

xxii.  1,  3,    p.  163,  164; 

12,  p.  105;  12-15,  p. 
270,  271;  19,  p.  214; 
20,  p.  51,  98. 


t> 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS 


QUOTED,   OR    REFERRED   TO. 


Alexander,      Professor,     189.     429, 

430. 
Ahted,  233. 
Andreas,  420. 
Ash,  Dr.,  229,  230. 
Augustin,  title  motto,  3-5,  20,  87, 

99,  201,  214,  215,  217. 
Auriol,  Mr.,  77. 

Barker,  Mr.,  123. 

Bengei,    16,   17.  20,  25,  40,  41,  55, 

58;  60,  63,  98,  147,  148,  194,  195, 

225,  230.  237,  247,  273,  276,  283. 

285,  287,  306,  351,  443.  444,  478! 

484. 
Bernard,  19,  20.  31. 
Bickerstetfi,  Mr.,  27,  56,  59,  75.  80, 

82,  83,  83-90,  95,   112,    113,  127. 

128,  133,  168-170,   172,   173,   175, 

202,  210,  265,  266,  304,  306.  307, 

365,  383. 
Birks,  Mr.,  88,  170,  171,   173-175, 

191,  194-198,  202,  208.  234.  259. 

265,  270,  272,  307.  309,  382,  383, 

472-476,  478,  481.  485. 
Bogue,  Dr.,  319,  320. 
Bonar,  Mr.  A.,  29,  43,  44,  56,  59, 

82,  84^.  85,  90-98,  267,  268,  297, 

298,  301.  302,  316,  317-319,  363, 

370,  372,  373,  376,  379. 
Bonar,   Mr.   H.,    27,   45,    82,    180, 

183-189,   267-270.274,    316,   319- 

321,  356-358,  363,  376,  379,  386, 

387.  402,  411,  412,415,  418,  420. 
Brock,  Mr.,  78,  171,  362. 
Brooks,  Mr..  66,   109-112,  128-130. 

133,  137,  138,  261,  304,  305,  314. 

321,  380,  381,  390,  391,  395,  396. 

462. 
Broim  (VVainphray),  303.  | 


Burchell,  Mr.,  5,  6,  70,  71. 
Burgh,  Mr.,  5,  97,  217,  221,  224, 

225,  294,  295. 
Burnet,    Thomas.  66.  67. 
Bush,  Dr.,  222,  357,  418. 

Calvin,  55,  58,  87,   147,   154,   185- 
187,  429,  430,  469,  479,  480,  484. 
Chrysostom,  40,  41. 
Cocceius,  200. 

Dallas,  207,  263-265,  269. 
Dalfon,  Mr.,  27. 
Daubuz,  Mr.,  412,  465. 
Dibdin,  Mr..  79. 
Doddridge,  480. 
Dodwell,  224. 
Dujficld,  Dr.,  43. 
Durant,  7,  74,  75. 

Durham,  63,  64,  99,  213,  214,  223, 
302,  303,  357,  412-415,  421,  465. 

Edwards,  President.  412,  421,  42i 
431-433,  439,  442.  448,  449. 

Elliott,  Mr..  147,  180,  210,  221,  238, 
239.  245,  '246,  252-254,  268,  271, 
273,  274,  296,  297,  299-301,  328, 
381,  382,  465,  466,  478-480,  483, 
484. 

Emerson,  357. 

Faber,  Mr.,  222,  412,  421,  422,  431- 

433,  439,  442,  448,  449. 
Fairbairn,  Mr..  10,  476. 
Eraser,  Mr..  259,  440,  446,  448. 
Freemantle,  361.  372. 
Fi-y,  Mr.,  360,  361. 

Gipvs,  Mr.,  222,  230,  239-241,  309 

474,  475,  482,  483. 


INDEX    TO    AUTHORS. 


499 


Griesbach,  98,  292. 

GroHus,  214,  215,  299,  ?no,  336,  446. 

Hall,  Bishop,  480. 
Hamilton,  Dr.,  229,  481,  482. 
Hare,  Archdeacon,  86. 
Henderson,  Dr.,  425,  426,  429,  467, 

468. 
Hengstenberg,  430. 
Henke,  357. 
Hill,  Dr.,  208,  209. 
Homer,  416. 
Homes.  Dr.,  39,  65,  QQ. 
Horsley,  Bishop,  45,  51,  52. 

IreneBus,  224. 

Jaspis,  188. 

Jerome,  5. 

Jus/in  Martyr,  224. 

Lachmann,  98,  247,  271,  292. 

Lactantius,  47,  65. 

i/ei'/,  David,  137. 

Lisco,  39. 

Lor(/,   /Vfr.,  88,  171,   172,  175,  208, 

382.  385,  386. 
Lawman,  Mr.,  41^,  465. 
LoirM,   Prebendary,    60,    184,    189, 

352,  353,  429. 
Ijuther,  55,  61. 

MacLaurin,  358. 

MA'ei/e,  />/-.,  69,  113, 114,  127,  155- 

157,    ISO,  267,  313,  314,  315,  32.5. 

326,  329,   330,  36  7,  383.  389,  390, 

394,  395. 
Magazine,  Free   Church,   141,   142, 

210. 
Magazine,  Lowe's,  378,  434. 
MaiUand,  Mr.  (Brighton),  298,  383, 

385. 
Manchester,  Duke  of,  27,  43,  44,  47, 

56,   57.   59,  R2-87,   114,   123,  127, 

128,  152,  153,  15.5,  209,  337,   338, 

365;  374-378,  3^0.  381,  399. 
Marck,  99,    193,    194,  200,  201,  214, 

215,  421,  437,  477,  480. 
Marsh,  Mr.  E.  G.,  259. 
Mede,  Jo.^eph,  44,  45,  223,  265,  305, 

336,  347,  351. 
Mather,  Ina-casc,  371. 
Merle  D'Aubignc.  252. 
Moor   De,  10,' 119,  201. 


More,  Dr.  Henry,  230,  465. 

Newton  Bishop,  221,  223-225,  259, 
465 

Ogilvy,  Mr.,  294,  315. 

Olshausen,  86. 

Owe7i,  Dr.  John,  24,  118,  119. 

Perry,  Joseph,  67-69,  122,  148,  149, 

371,  373,  478. 
Piscator,  66,  230. 

Prophecy,  Quarterly  Journal  of,  141. 
Prophecy,  Tracts  on,  No.  2,  327,  328 
Pyrn,  Mr.,  362. 

Review,  British  Quarterly,  235,  249 
Review,  Presbyterian,  126,  331. 
Rollock,  Principal,  29. 
Rutherford,  29,  30. 

Scholz,  98,  247,  292. 

Scott,  Mr.  J.,  69,  70. 

Scott,   Thomas,  184,   185,  229.  357, 

403,  429,  480. 
Sixtus  Senensis.  65. 
Stuart,  Moses,  225,  230,  246, 336,  337 
Swedenborg,  183. 
Symington,  Dr.  W.,  1 19 

Tertullian,  203.  224. 

Tischendorf  93.  247.  271,  292. 

Tregelles,  Mr.,  93,  237,  247,  271. 

Trench,  Mr.  273. 

Turretin,  F.,  119. 

Ticiss.  Dr.,  65. 

7)/so,  Mr.,  10,  294,  315. 

Urwick,  Dr.,  10,  25,  41,  469,  470. 

Venema,  200. 

Virgil,  416. 

Vitringa,  back-title    notto,  99,  147, 

222.  412.   414,  415    429,  437,  438, 

444,  465,  477. 

Wetstein,  98. 

Winer,  195,  196,  246. 

Whitby,  Dr.,  222. 

Wood,  Mr.,   133,  139-141,    155-157, 

363,  390,  462. 
Woodward,  Dr.,  112. 

Year,  Christian,  97. 


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